The Red Witch
by Emerald Demona
Summary: What if Buffy didn't turn back for Willow in that scene at the end of Wrecked (season 6 episode 10). What if she left her best friend lying in the street that night how would that change the story we saw? What would happen to the relationships between the Scoobies? And what would happen to Willow if Buffy's desertion resulted in an event that none of them could see coming?
1. Prologue

The Red Witch

Disclaimer-

Me no own and me no paid so you no sue cause me broke. Me give back scoobies in almost good condition later.

This story will at times be graphic in terms of violence and language, but as of now I have no plans for explicit sex scenes or even non- explicit sex scenes. If you can handle a little gore from time to time then welcome and if not please do not read.

Summary

What if Buffy didn't turn back for Willow in that scene at the end of Wrecked (season 6 episode 10). What if she left her best friend lying in the street that night how would that change the story we saw? What would happen to the relationships between the Scoobies? And what would happen to Willow if Buffy's desertion resulted in an event that none of them could see coming?

Prologue

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm so so sorry" Willow sobbed again and again, but Buffy, Spike and Dawn were long gone. There was no one around to hear her and no one who did hear her was likely to care. She couldn't go home Buffy said to stay away from Dawn so she wouldn't want Will in her home any longer. Both Tara and Dawn were sure to hate her now, she had gotten Dawnie hurt whether she meant to or not and Tara had already left her because of the magic. She had deserved that slap, Dawn's contempt, a trust had been broken that she might never regain and she had no one now. She doubted Xander would even look at her now and Anya would go along with Xander. 'What would she do now?' she thought there was no where left to go and no one left to turn to she had burned some major bridges tonight.

Well at least one thing was clear she had finally hit bottom as she lay there on the ground in the dark and cold street she realized finally that going back to Rack and Amy would get her nowhere. The only way to move forward now would be without magic period. She would go home to her parent's home and clean herself up maybe then she could earn back the trust of her friends, and it's not like her parents would be there anyway they stopped coming home late in her senior year preferring to travel and lecture continuously and actively forget they even had a daughter. Why they bothered to have her in the first place was a mystery she had been trying to solve since kindergarten. But at least this worked in her favor now she still had somewhere to go even if it was a lonely somewhere.

Willow began to try and drag herself up, but after hours of laying unmoving and emotionally broken in the street she found getting up to be harder than she thought and she was very tempted to just lie there. "Come on Willow it's time to pick yourself up because no one else will" she said to herself. "You are no longer allowed to pity yourself it's time to stand and face the mirror"

After at least five minutes of effort she finally managed to get herself into a standing position and she slowly limped over to a wall, resting there as she prepared herself to make the long trip home alone and without magic. As she leaned against the wall she heard footsteps coming in her direction. Loud and angry footsteps and there had to be at least four different individuals making those loud noises. Footsteps were soon joined by angry inhuman grunting and shuffling as well as cruel voices that she could not understand, not all demons spoke English apparently. As they were headed her way she began to look for a hiding place, she would not use magic she told herself remembering the last time she had promised to stop her magic use and broke her word less than an hour after it was made.

That promise was to Tara and it had cost her her soulmate, but this promise was to herself and the last thing she could afford was to let herself down as she was all she had left. But as she looked around there was nowhere good to hide she was too exposed on that street and not even the garbage cans would provide a good shelter, she would not be able to hide well there. However she started in that direction anyway because there was nowhere else and prepared to make herself as small as she could in an effort to hide. Before she could reach the cans however she saw the demons that were making the noise and worse they saw her so hiding was no longer an option. "No magic" she told herself as the large and muscled demons came her way "no magic". But perhaps this one time she should have made an exception...

Willow was in pretty bad shape and she could tell that she would die soon, but even if she could concentrate on something besides her pain long enough to do a spell she no longer had the strength. If she were able to lift her head and open more than one eye halfway she'd see that her blood was splattered all over the street and all over the five demons that were attacking her. So much blood that it was unlikely that she had much left for her heart to pump. Even more distressing than the various cuts, broken bones, and bruises was the fact that loops of her bowel were now protruding through the deep claw marks in her belly that ran from her left hip to her right shoulder. A large bite graced her left shoulder and flesh was missing from it showing the ivory bone and torn muscle, minor bite marks graced her body nearly everywhere else. Luckily, or unluckily however you looked at it, Willow cold barely feel anything anymore the world was growing dark and she was becoming numb to the pain as well as the cold.

Suddenly however the now faint sounds of the attacking demons stopped and she heard a new sound, heels and a woman's voice. Willow looked up as far as she could with her half open right eye and she was vaguely able to make out a dark, long haired woman in dark leather and wearing what looked like a black choker that had a silver bird on it, a raven. At this point Willow could no longer hear at all, but it seemed as if the woman was challenging the demons if their stances were any indication. Willow wanted to warn this woman to get away to safety and leave her to her fate, but the darkness closed in and she was no longer aware of anything


	2. Chapter 1

Note: This story is dedicated to The Silent Scream without whom it would have never been written. In this reality Xander and Anya are married, Spike never attempted to rape Buffy so he never left to get a soul and he simply remains annoying and sometimes useful. Also the timeline is a bit off so some events of season seven occurred early or out of order and some never occurred due to changes in characters. Tara was never shot and the three nerds were arrested fair quickly after attempting to kill Buffy (Andrew and Warren share a cell ;) ). This story is has no beta.

The Red Witch

Chapter One

Six and a half months later...

As Buffy walked down the stairs she was thinking about how much her red haired best friend pissed her off these days, especially when it came to her blonde haired friend. Even now she could hear their conversation in the kitchen and it made her want to kill Willow if only she could. Walking into the bright and sunny kitchen she could verify with her eyes what her nose told her from the stairs Tara was making pancakes lots of them. Blueberry, chocolate and plain funny shapes and rounds and in the center of the dining table there were already bowls upon bowls of cut fruits and bacon as well as stacks of toast and jugs of milk and OJ.

"The Slayer awakens and graces us with her presence" Willow called from the counter where she sat next to Tara's bowls of batter.

Buffy barely glanced at the witch her eyes strictly for Tara who was once again crying as she cooked though her face wasn't as tear stained as it normally was this time of the day perhaps she was finally learning to ignore Willow. Speaking of the witch she didn't like being ignored and was likely to start in on Buffy soon if Buffy didn't get her to go away.

"Tara are you ok?" Buffy asked what has become a ritual question between the two of them at this time of day.

"Never better Buffy" Tara responded wanly an obvious lie that Buffy allowed to pass if only because she already knew the real answer that no Tara was not ok and wasn't likely to be ok again soon though she was looking better now than she had yesterday or the day before.

"What about me Buff? Aren't you gonna ask how I am this fine day? Or are you gonna try to pretend I don't exist again?" Willow said teleporting from the counter top to just in front of Buffy as she finished the last sentence.

"You aren't wanted here, go to hell where you belong" Buffy stated coldly unable to ignore Willow anymore now that she stood right in front of her.

"Aw don't you love me anymore Buff?" Willow asked in a hurt tone the beginning of tears in her big green eyes.

"No" came the firm and angry response from the already irritated slayer as she began to try and move around the now sobbing red head.

"Tara, Buffy doesn't love me anymore is that why she let me die? Do you still love me Tara? Or will you abandon me again like Buffy did when she left me in the dark and dirty street?!" The sobbing red head turned to the teary eyed blonde demanding a response to her query.

Buffy unable to help herself threw a punch at the back of Willow's head with all of her strength. If it connected it could kill the red head as the slayer was very physically powerful. However it didn't connect because even as Buffy heard Tara's horrified gasp she saw her fist move through Willow's head as if there was nothing there but air. Having become unbalanced by the powerful hit that did nothing she stumbled through Willow's body and turned around to face her again once she re-balanced herself putting herself quite deliberately between the two witches.

"Wow Buff you really don't love me anymore."

"Go to HELL!" Buffy yelled by now angrier than she was before now that she has given in to Willow's taunts. The red witch cocked her head at Buffy and after quirking one brow she studied Buffy as if she were a painting in a museum and then she smiled brightly at the slayer. Wounds began to open up on Willow's body and bright red blood poured down her form staining the blouse and jeans she wore and causing Tara to gasp again and nearly burn herself on the stovetop as she jumped backward.

"I'll see you tonight Baby" Will called as she blew Tara a kiss through bloody lips and then she disappeared finally.

"Thank you Buffy" Tara said now dumping her burnt pancakes and getting ready to pour fresh batter in the pan hiding her face from the slayer.

"No problem" Buffy answered "I just wish I could keep her from showing up at all".

Tara's shoulder's shook a little at this. Buffy moved over to her and placed an arm across her back comfortingly. "She is gone Tara and having the First pretend to be her is no good for anyone" Buffy said soothingly.

"I know Buffy and I know the others are just as affected as I am but part of me can't help but want that connection because I won't see her again otherwise" Buffy sighed but remained quiet and rubbed Tara's back because she had nothing to say to that, part of her wanted that connection too even though she knew it wasn't her friend. Willow was dead.

"Buffy could you wake up the others? They should eat before breakfast gets cold" Tara asked quietly.

"Sure" Buffy responded "just make sure to put some away for yourself this time you know those girls eat like starving teenage boys". Buffy turned and began making her way back out of the kitchen "I'll also see if Giles made any progress in finding a way to block the First from this house or at least from taking her form" Tara nodded at this and began plating the now done pancakes and preparing to make even more. Buffy sighed as she made her way upstairs she needed to make sure Tara ate more Willow would be upset if she knew how little Tara ate or slept since that night and the least she could do for her best friend was take care of her girl. Maybe she should take the girls out today keep them outside and make them spar and run laps. Faith would help and maybe it would be quiet enough then for Tara to get at least a little rest. Buffy went to get Giles up first because she wanted a chance to get to the food before any of the girls got up, she would need her strength if she was going to train slayerettes all day and night.

Later that night Buffy and Faith split the girls into two groups and went out to patrol Sunnydale. So far the day had been full of physical exertion and the girls were running low on energy. Buffy was hoping to tire herself out tonight so that she could get something more than four hours of sleep so her group would not be turning in any time soon much to the girls' dismay. They walked through the second to last cemetery on Buffy's list and like the last one they went through there was very little activity in terms of vampires though the girls did get to try their luck with two slime demons who were too pathetic to put up much of a fight.

They finished rounding the cemetery really quickly after the demon fight and so Buffy decided that if there weren't signs of activity in the last cemetery on the list she would not force the girls to stay out even longer. After all there was only about an hour to an hour and a half left before the First showed yet again. She could set her watch to how predictably the cruel apparition showed up wearing Willow's face. It seemed to like wearing Willow better than Buffy's mom or even Buffy herself. No doubt this was because it got more mileage out of the red head in terms of stronger reactions from more of Buffy's friends even Faith got freaked from time to time though she was better than most at not showing her reactions and so she avoided most of the First's attention. Buffy and Tara were its favorite targets as they had the strongest reactions and as hard as she tried Buffy couldn't be as indifferent as she wished because she still felt Willow's death was her fault. Tara left Willow for Willow's own good and she would no doubt have returned eventually to help Willow after enough time had passed.

But Buffy left Willow because she'd been pissed at her and ironically she'd been so angry with Will because Will had basically been doing the same thing that she was. Only her vice involved sleeping with the undead a fact that Xander never let her forget, whenever she looked at him she could see a bit of condemnation in his eyes. Their relationship was never the same after they learned that Will had been beaten to death and then eaten by demons after Buffy left her in the street so coldly. The fact that Spike of all people brought them this information only fuelled Xander's hatred of him and his anger at Buffy. It took a month and a half for Buffy to even get Xander to talk to her again and that was only due to Anya and the wedding otherwise he still might not be talking to her. Even now he did not speak or share with her as much as he used to Willow's death hit him extremely hard and at the wedding he stood alone while awaiting his bride because only his oldest friend was allowed at his side on that day and she wasn't able to be there. It was the single most gloomy wedding she'd ever been a part of despite the fact that it was the only wedding she'd ever been a part of or even attended and despite the fact that half all the guests were rowdy demons with short fuses not to mention Xander's drunken relatives.

If Buffy were truly honest with herself she would admit that a large part of her anger came from Willow ripping her from heaven and bringing her back to the Hellmouth, never ending apocalypse(s)/(ii) (whatever the plural is) and unending pain emotional and otherwise. But to admit that even to herself would be to betray everything she stood for, everything she was and most important her sister. The hardest thing in this world is to live in it she told Dawn, if only she realized how true this was at the time. She was supposed to want to be around for her sister right? Because without her Dawn had no family, since their mother was dead, to take care of her save their absent father. However that was only if you counted blood. In terms of their friends turned family there was Buffy's watcher/ pseudo father who lived in another country (except during a major crisis), one severely depressed witch, a depraved vampire, a profit obsessed ex demon and a carpenter. But even still to have grown up without Buffy and Joyce would have been very hard on Dawnie. Could she really even now still bear ill will against her red haired friend for looking out for Dawnie for allowing Buffy be around to protect and care for her sister and see to it that she became the confident and amazing woman she was meant to be? She couldn't allow herself to even think those thoughts anymore it made living with herself even harder to bear.

Buffy sighed at the thought of how much more gloomy her return to life had become without Willow. If she had been there Buffy might have at least eventually found some sort of resolution to the issues that tore at her daily. If only Willow had lived... If only Giles had at least been able to find anything that would allow them to block the first (a consistent reminder of her friend and the problems she'd left Buffy with) it was not good for her status as leader of the slayer army for the girls to see the tension between the scoobies or the emotional reactions that the First always inevitably provoked not to mention it was no good for her sanity or temper either.


	3. Chapter 2 part 1

Note: This story is dedicated to The Silent Scream without whom it would have never been written. In this reality Xander and Anya are married, Spike never attempted to rape Buffy so he never left to get a soul and he simply remains annoying and sometimes useful. Also the timeline is a bit off so some events of season seven occurred early or out of order and some never occurred due to changes in characters. Tara was never shot and the three nerds were arrested fair quickly after attempting to kill Buffy (Andrew and Warren share a cell ;) ). This story is has no beta.

Note 2: My apologies I wasn't able to put out a full chapter today, but I didn't want to not post anything. So this is the first half of chapter 2 and Friday or Saturday I will either replace this post with the complete chapter 2 or I'll post a chapter 2 part 2 and pick up with chapter 3 next Wednesday.

The Red Witch

Chapter Two: Part 1

Xander was stuck in The Magic Box doing his husbandly duties not the fun ones, but the thou must not kill one's beloved even if she is annoying, shrill and repetitive ones.

"Yes An I understand those crooks cared nothing for the American idea of capitalism and profit when they broke in The Magic Box. They should all be roasted alive then left to drown in the middle of the Arctic Ocean."

"Are you being sarcastic Xander?" Came the suspicious question from the book shelves.

"No An, I'm being supportive" Xander lied smoothly while clearing unsalvageable merchandise from the floor in front of some shelves.

"It's just so upsetting Xander. I work so hard to live the American dream just like they could be doing, but no they choose to wreck other people's chances to make profits. The shop will be closed for at least one maybe two days while I re-stock and take inventory. The loss of those profits will set us back in my plans for us to conceive a child."

A crash is heard as Xander dropped the one glass from the shelves he was cleaning that did not end up smashed in the break-in. "Conceive a child An, isn't that a little fast we just got married."

"Yes, but Xander one day I will open more shops and expand the business. I will need workers for that if we have children then I have a ready labor supply that I don't need to pay. And they will be trustworthy because I will raise them to love us, the store, and the beauty that is capitalism!"

"But An we _just_ got married. We need time to um... spend just us and, and um prepare our lives for supporting our children! I would like to have more time to enjoy you while it's just us" He replied beginning to sweat a little, leaving his shelf and moving toward his wife while frantically trying to think up any argument he could to delay talks of children. He was _so_ not ready for that yet Anya didn't even know how close they came to _not_ getting married at all.

"Yes and I like that idea Xander there will be many orgasms in our future, but children take so long to grow before they are useful and I will need new workers sooner rather than later" She said with a wide smile turning away from Xander to pick up some more books that were on the floor and stack them on the shelves in an approximation of their original positions.

"But An you wouldn't be able to not pay our children if you wanted to teach the joys of capitalism. Working at the store would be part of that lesson and work equals money so they would have to be paid something if you want to teach them right. Unless you'd rather they be socialists or communists." He said smiling to himself as he laid down his very convincing argument before his wife.

Anya shuddered and leaned against the shelf placing her right hand over her heart. "You're right we can't dare risk that. I'd rather pet bunnies than have that happen! Maybe we should wait and have children after the store has made more of a profit so they'd have a better example to learn from."

"Exactly" Xander said feeling extremely relived "And in the meantime if you need more workers you can hire Dawn or some of the Potentials you could practice for our children by teaching them how to be proper entrepreneurs when they aren't slaying."

"No no not the kleptomaniac! But your idea has merit some of the girls have promise." She visibly ruminated over that idea thinking of all the ways she could take advantage of Buffy's houseguests. "The store is not at that point yet Xander but we will need their help to get the store put together again sooner" she said decisively.

"I'll call Buffy and ask her to bring some girls over later this morning, but for now I have to get to work. Maybe you should consider a security system with cameras to keep some of the would be thieves away" he said giving her a kiss and making his escape before she thought of other reasons they needed children right now. Perhaps he'd stop by Buffy's rather than just call he still had an hour before he had be at the new site hopefully the Willow First would be gone by the time he got there. That thing scared him, freaked him out and pissed him off more thoroughly than anything else so far. Luckily it didn't visit his home nearly as often as it did Buffy's. Still right now he would take on the First if it meant being able to avoid his wife.


	4. Chapter 2 part 2

Posted 11-17-13 Updated 1/9/14

The Red Witch

Chapter Two: Part 2

Faith sat on the couch listening to Xander relay the news of the break in at the Magic Box to the Scooby gang. Amanda, one of the newer potentials, had been telling some of the other girls about the news that she saw on TV earlier that day something about multiple break ins over the course of the night. Her gut was telling her that there was a supernatural connection with what could have been seen as normal everyday human crimes. Well her gut and the three demons with shopping bags that she and the girls in her group spent part of the night chasing.

"It didn't look like they had stolen much, it was like they were looking for something specific and smashed whatever they didn't need. In a couple days Anya will have finished inventory and we know exactly what was taken" Xander said.

"I'll send half of the girls over to Anya once everyone has eaten and then I'll do a training session with the other half. They can trade later in the afternoon it'll be like a break for them."

"Buffy something is going on here" Faith stated suddenly. "On patrol last night the juniors and I chased down some weird red skinned demons with shopping bags. They were fast but I would have caught them if the juniors hadn't stumbled into a vamp nest. They didn't even try attack us or anything when we first saw them I figured they were up to something."

"Yeah Rona told me about that last night and this morning there was a report on the news about the hardware store, the grocery store, and a Bed, Bath and Beyond that were also hit last night" added Dawn.

"What would demons want from those stores sounds more like bored teenagers to me" Buffy shrugged and then turned to Giles. "You ever hear of demon thieves Giles?"

"No at least not this type of petty thievery but that's not to say it never happened before. Perhaps if Faith can give us a better description Tara, Dawn and I can figure out what kind of demons they were. Faith maybe you can take a look at the shops in question, try to find out what was taken that will give us some clue as to what they were up to exactly."

Faith nodded more than willing to get out of research duty and away from the other slayer for the day. Unless Buffy asked her directly for help any of Faith's attempts to help out with training seemed to be taken as horning in on Buffy's territory. Faith was tired of fighting the small blonde to get her to accept Faith's help it didn't seem to be worth it. She was hardly going to corrupt the innocent teenagers nor did she want to take Buffy's place if that was even possible. Faith left the house as soon as she could declining Xander's offer of a ride, the longer she had away from the Summer's home the more she could relax and think about where her future would lead her once this mess with the First was over.

Despite Buffy's thoughts to the contrary Faith had grown since her original Sunnydale days she was, dare it be said, a grown up now less impatient less impulsive and reckless. She had proven at least to herself that she was still a slayer first and she was capable of becoming someone she could be proud of. Buffy gave her little credit for her growth she still saw Faith as a last resort tool, to be called upon only when extremely desperate, but Faith was learning not to undervalue herself and she didn't need the First to tell her what she already knew about her place here in the Summer's household. She had a ways to go to earn the trust and respect of Buffy and the Scoobies something, like that was never built overnight. Despite the fact that she'd been here the better part of two months, ever since Buffy was shot, with Angel's backing Buffy still seemed only to see her past self. You'd think she'd cut her a break it wasn't like she was expecting to be best buds with everyone now, but she was hoping that Buffy would give her a little slack. After all she did take over Buffy's responsibilities for a whole month while the blonde slayer healed completely from Warren's well placed bullet. She kept Buffy's friends safe while the other slayer was unable to do so herself.

Angel did tell her that redemption would be a hard path when he sent her here to help out, but it seemed much harder now than she ever expected. Still she had a job to do and if nothing else she'd do it as best as she could maybe it was better to just keep letting her actions speak for her and stop worrying about getting anyone else's approval especially Buffy's. The blonde's hands were not exactly squeaky clean anymore after all and maybe that was Buffy's real problem. Maybe Faith was a reminder of how much Buffy had lost, that there was a time when Buffy was the bright sparkly slayer and Faith was the dark evil one. But things were different now that they'd both grown up some there was no longer all black or all white anymore, that Buffy could work with Angel and Spike should have told her that, the two slayers were grey now. Buffy was stained not nearly as badly as she herself was, but she wasn't totally innocent either. At least the Scoobies were warming up to her a bit she may never be their favorite person but they recognized that she was different. It meant something to her that they could see that even though she would never admit to that.

She had two and a half years to think about what went wrong the first time around while she sat in jail and she realized a few things. Back then a big part of the problem was that she always felt that she was measured against Buffy and found wanting. It played a big part in her turn to Mayor Wilkins and it was something the First was attempting to use against her now like the Mayor did before. She had to stop comparing herself and focus on being Faith otherwise she'd never get anywhere and she couldn't afford that. Angel worked hard those two and half years to show the legal system and to show Faith herself that she had more to offer if given a chance, that had she had someone in her corner before to guide and care for her none of those events in her past would have occurred. Once he'd helped her earn her freedom physically as well as mentally she promised to be worthy of his faith. Helping Buffy now was part of her debt to him and the beginning of a long road for her, but once the current crisis was over she was not tying herself here in Sunnydale or LA not if it meant being forever in Buffy's shadow. Cleveland had a Hellmouth or so she heard no doubt they would need a slayer there.


	5. Chapter 3

Note: This chapter gets just a little sexy nothing you need to cover your eyes for, but I thought I should warn you because I did say I wouldn't go there. I didn't intend to but my muse has spoken so enjoy.

The Red Witch

Chapter 3

_ The dark haired woman lay atop the red head both were naked, panting and sweating from their exertions and the red head wore a look of pure bliss with a very smug smirk though her eyes were still closed as she waited for her equilibrium to return. The brunette however, did not look as happy though the red head had thoroughly seen to her satisfaction there was a matter that disturbed her greatly and was at the forefront of her mind even now in what should have been a very pleasurable afterglow. The brunette looked down upon her lover with a look of utter longing mixed with deep grief. It was as if the red head was not laying under her looking so relaxed easily touchable, but millions of miles away in a place she could not reach._

_ "Why so sad baby?" asked the red head after having finally opened her eyes. "Did I not make you happy Sidonie, my raven? Why are you crying?"_

_ The brunette finally rolled off the other woman and snuggled into her side just now noticing the tears that fell unbidden down her cheeks. "I love you Red I love you so much I can't stand it, __**it hurts**__." She began to sob the emotion crashing over her leaving her feeling extremely vulnerable especially after the passion she'd just shared with her lover. "I want you mine for now for always. Don't leave me." She began to cry even harder now that she had been reduced to begging for something she knew without being told that she couldn't have. The brunette's eyes closed so she could avoid looking at her lover who'd repositioned herself for just that purpose. "Stay... stay with me Red"_

_ The red head gently caressed the other woman's face feeling the tears build in her own eyes now as well. "Sid if were only a matter of what I wanted I'd never leave your side you know this. I'm so sorry I don't want to hurt you. I never ever wanted to do that ever. I wish that I could, but if I did you wouldn't love me anymore I would not be the woman you fell for. I would hate myself I would lose part of me forever."_

_ "You can't stay because you'd lose part of your soul" Sid opened her eyes to gaze upon her lover once more, eyes still bright with tears. "I'm sorry, I knew before we began that I couldn't keep you, but I thought it wouldn't matter to me that you couldn't stay mine. I never thought I'd care this much now that daylight approaches" She looked deeply into bright green eyes filled with sorrow._

_ "Would it be easier for you if I left now? I could sleep somewhere else if this hurts you too much." The red head spoke mournfully the tears having left her eyes to pour down her cheeks, a physical representation of the pain both women felt at the reality of their impending separation._

_ "No no no!" Sidonie cried "You are still mine now and I will not give you up before I absolutely must. If I'm going to be forced to live on the memories of our love then I want as many as I can get and I want you screaming my name now!" The brunette began kissing her lover's body licking and nipping at the pale skin as she moved to reawaken their ardor. She proceeded down her lovers body the moans she was hearing encouraging her onwards. Reaching her goal she heard her name being panted out by the red head and she continued intent on using every bit of stamina she possessed to ensure her lover would bear remembrances of their time together for as long as possible. Prepare yourself lover she thought you won't be walking tomorrow. I might not be able to keep you, but she can't have you yet and she won't have you without knowing you were mine. And with that thought the brunette set about leaving marks everywhere that she could her lover too far gone in bliss to protest even if she wanted to._

_"SIDONIE!"_

* * *

"Sidonie!" Tara cried waking up abruptly with tears wet on her face and her entire body in an extreme state of arousal that she felt a great need to satisfy. Her flesh hot, wet and throbbing as she moved to relieve the pressure. This wouldn't be the first time that she'd had a dream that left her longing for completion and Willow often featured very prominently in those dreams the brunette however was a total mystery. Finally climaxing Tara lay back upon her bed confusion now over taking her. I must be losing my mind she thought who dreams of their dead girlfriend with another woman and screams that woman's name. That wasn't something Will ever did to her whatever other problems they had she never doubted Will's faithfulness or her devotion not for one second nor had that ever been one of her fantasies. "So where the hell did that come from?" The blonde witch spoke aloud clearly irritated with herself.

"I don't know lover, but was that as good for you as it was for me?" Came a very familiar voice from right next to Tara. Tara turned to her side to see a naked and bloody Willow lying next to her, which caused her to jump nearly a foot off the bed and then crash to the floor while screaming loud enough to wake all the undead and not so undead in a five mile radius.

Buffy and Dawn crashed through her door into her room moments later neither armed but both alert and scanning for danger. They were soon followed by several of the potentials who had stopped and taken the time to grab the stake that Buffy insisted each girl kept near her always even when sleeping. Kennedy was the first of the potentials to enter the room, but she stopped upon seeing nothing but the First which could be categorized as dangerous and the others stopped behind her. The Willow First smirked at the response to Tara's screams and said calmly to Buffy "so sorry to wake you guys Tara and I were just having a little fun." Turning back to Tara it gave her a sexy grin. "As much as I enjoyed our time together this morning your friends just ruined the mood. Catch ya later babe."

The bed was mow empty and Tara slumped down on the floor running her fingers through her hair and sighing a glance at the clock show that it was only 4 am, but she wouldn't be able to sleep anytime soon. "This is going to be a long day" Tara spoke to the ceiling.

* * *

Dawn was struggling to not fall asleep in her demonology book, how embarrassing would that be she thought looking over at the potentials spread on the floor each with their own book and glazed expression. This was going nowhere fast if only Buffy would let her have some coffee then maybe it wouldn't take a hour to read one page. Really she looked down at the book once again, she was still on page 456 the same page she happened to glance at for the first time exactly twenty-nine minutes ago according to her watch and she still couldn't tell what it said. Words had begun to blur on the page as she began to lose her battle to not embarrass herself in front of the other girls. Damn those 4am wake up calls, demonic high schools and evil task master librarians she was still a growing girl she needed her rest and to think she still had homework to do after this four pages of algebra and an essay on the universality of the themes in _Hamlet_. Dawn sighed giving up and resting her head on the ancient book maybe Dr Torres would be happy if she compared _Hamle_t to _The Lion King_. Disney steals all its themes from other places anyway and it's not like that would require too much extra research because she knew that movie by heart every scene and every line. It's better than anything Buffy would have come up with was her last conscious thought before sleep over took her.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) Dawn's impromptu nap was interrupted not two minutes later by Faith walking in and clapping loudly for the benefit of all the research girls. "Look alive shorties" Faith called "we need some answers and you guys snoozing is not gonna help us catch some sticky fingered demons." Dawn luckily hadn't started drooling yet Giles would have killed her. She turned the to the page ignoring the argument Faith got into with Kennedy about Faith's lack of research time. Really that was a battle Kennedy couldn't win Dawn thought she should be grateful Faith was not stuck researching with them the Slayer was not one for staying still and even Buffy had problems with research, too much extra energy. Now that she had a little adrenaline burst from her rude awakening she could actually see the picture on the page and read the caption properly.

"I found them!" She cried out coming to her feet in her excitement. "Here page 456, Wouj Trezor demons."

* * *

The scooby meeting that followed Dawn's discovery was a bit tense as they normally were these days. Dawn felt as though everything had gone to shit since Buffy died and came back and Willow's death had only made things worse. It seemed that Buffy resented being alive and sometimes they way Buffy looked made Dawn think that her sister resented her. After all if the was no Dawn, Buffy might feel freer to leave the mortal coil yet again and return to her peaceful place in Heaven. When Buffy was gone Willow and Tara served as Dawn's surrogate parents and as much as she'd missed both her mother and sister it felt so nice to have two loving parental units who doted on her. They made sure that she got to school and was fed properly, spent time with her and truly listened to her, and on those nights when her pain became too much she could sleep in between them in their bed and feel the love they shared cover and comfort her like a soft and warm blanket on cold morning. It was nights like those when they gave up their own alone time to be there for her that she wished that she was their daughter and though it did feel as if she were betraying her mother the was a time just once or twice when she actually did slip and call Willow mommy.

Dawn felt guilty because the last thing that she'd said to Willow was she hated her and she slapped her. Had she known that it would be the last time she was going to see her Willow shaped mom she would have told her just how much she loved her and forgiven her then for not being perfect for being human with human faults. Dawn also felt angry almost all the time at Willow for not coming home, at Buffy for holding on to her own anger and not truly being there for her little sister, and she was even angry at Tara for withdrawing into her grief. Sure Tara still took care of Dawn better than Buffy was doing actually they still had their milkshake dates and movie nights and it was Tara more often than not who saw to it that Dawn's basic needs were being met, but Tara was never completely there. It was like she was a robot Tara caring and kind and nurturing, but it was a program that made her act that way and not a soul... Tara acted as if she were missing half her soul...

"So to clarify Faith," Giles spoke up nudging Dawn out of her heavy thoughts. "The demons you encountered stole only paint, wood, rope, a couple of random kitchen machines and food?"

"Yep that about sums it up G-man kinda lame stuff to steal if they had just a hundred bucks they coulda brought most of it no problem."

"Well it is rather hard to shop when you are an obvious demon" Anya told them defending her fellow demons even if they were thieves. "I doubt they would have been able to find jobs either, though I would have hired them at least to do stock or take inventory it would have freed me up to do more and have longer hours." Anya looked very thoughtful at this point rubbing her chin and staring off into nothing. "Maybe I should advertise for a demon employee."

"An, please no demon employees I'm sure you can find a couple of bored teenagers who can put in a few hours and not risk hiring demons that might eat your customers or your husband."

"I think Xander has a point there Anya" two cents courtesy of Buffy. But Anya didn't respond still lost in thought about economics and time management.

"Do we know what these Wouj Trezor demons took form the Magic Box yet Anya?" asked Giles in an effort to get the meeting back on track.

"No I haven't completed inventory yet so tomorrow I'll have a better idea but I'm pretty sure they stole many spell ingredients as well as books. I'm just not sure which ones"

"The book said these demons were pretty harmless I mean they are vegetarians and they have been known to travel around maybe they're just on vacation and ran out of supplies." Dawn put in.

"I'd say that this was a bad vacation spot but they are demons and hellmouths tend to attract those. Still I'd prefer a tropical island to a hellmouth and I was a demon for over a thousand years."

"Well in any case it doesn't seem as if they will give us much trouble so on another topic I'm leaving tomorrow morning" Giles said taking his glasses off to clean them.

"Why do I have the feeling that my house is about to pushed over capacity?"

"Because Buffy my contacts have located what could be another potential in South America. She was attacked by bringers but she lived and is now in hiding so I'm going to bring her back here it won't take long."

"Well I've had enough of the potentials for one day I could use a break Faith wanna patrol with me for old times' sake?"

Faith hesitated for a moment before agreeing and both slayers got up to grab their jackets and weapons. Dawn sat at the table as everyone else prepared to leave as well, watching a very quiet Tara who seemed to still be shook up from this morning. She normally didn't speak up much anyway but you'd hardly notice she was there tonight. Dawn decided that her homework could wait one more night perhaps it was time for her to take care of Tara, it probably would be best if she had company tonight especially if the First showed yet again. They could both use a good night's sleep.


	6. Chapter 4

The Red Witch

Chapter 4

Buffy had no idea why exactly she invited Faith along with her on patrol it had been her intention to patrol alone and get some fresh air maybe clear her head a little and think. The constant tension between her and her friends and the strain in all of her current relationships was hitting her hard. All of it was just adding to the pain and confusion she still felt. Sometimes she wished she could just stop feeling and go back to the way things were before when she hadn't left her best friend to die and she hadn't killed herself to once again save the world (something she never did get any credit for outside her circle of friends). However, whatever her subconscious was thinking before she was glad now that it had made her speak up. This current scene wasn't anything she wanted to deal with alone. Just when she had enough of the squabbling constantly hungry teenage girls that took up all the space in her home Giles leaves to bring back another and she and Faith stumble upon what's most likely a potential lying near death in a cemetery.

The doctors at the hospital were able to tell them that this girl, Shannon her id had said, would live and the during the brief time she and Faith were able to speak with the girl before she returned to unconsciousness they were able to confirm that as well as learn a few disturbing things. The First had a new agent a priest named Caleb and he had something that belonged to her. What it was she had no idea, but she had no doubt that he'd meant to get her to come to him it was most likely some kind of trap. Still she would go as soon as possible if only because she wanted to make sure whatever he had wasn't something vital and to size up the new enemy. But she did not expect that this would be easy or that she would be able to spring this trap and not get caught in it.

The next morning Anya called a scooby meeting for the early afternoon, which suited Buffy just fine since she wanted a little time figure out who this Caleb guy was before she informed the others of what she planned to do with the things she and Faith found out last night. She thought that it would be best ho have at least a little idea of who he was and where he might be before she started planning to take on his evil lair. It wouldn't hurt if she had some idea of what kind of resources he had at his disposal either. She would leave the potentials in Faith's hands and with Tara at the hospital looking after Shannon she felt everything was secure enough for her to spend the morning poking around. She would start in the area where Shannon said she'd been and try to find something there that might help and she would have to get Dawn to google him after the meeting so that she'd have a little more to go on.

* * *

After hours of walking and sherlocking around in the woods Buffy was no closer to figuring out the new guy than she was when she started. Soon it would be time for the meeting and she had so very little to go on. That meant when she and Faith took the girls out tonight they'd have to try to at least figure out where Caleb was holed up maybe follow a bringer or something and try to spy out anything that would help her plan the assault. She reached the Magic Box before she expected to having been lost in her thoughts about their newest enemy and what to do about him and from the look of things she the last to arrive. Anya spoke up as soon as she saw Buffy enter the store.

"Buffy finally, now we can get started."

As Buffy got herself situated at the table she looked to Anya with a raised brow wondering why the ex-demon seemed to be so unsettled. "What's going on she asked?" Knowing without being told that it wasn't anything good these days it rarely was anything but bad.

"I finally completed the inventory and I now know exactly what the Trezor took. They took several of my books on portals of the inter dimensional variety as well as common spell ingredients for forming those portals."

"There are other types of portals?" Buffy asked not being familiar with any other kind.

"Of course." Anya stated "portals are most commonly used between dimensions, but a good witch or warlock would know how to use them to fold space for traveling between large distances. Though the amount of energy and effort that it takes to do this makes it very inefficient means of travel and so most find others way to get around like teleporting or a car."

"So I guess we're assuming that these demons want to make a portal to another dimension." Faith put in "any chance someone knows where they want this portal to go?"

"We don't know" answered Xander. "But we can assume that wherever they are trying to go it won't be good for us. The last inter dimensional portal we ran into did not end well for us."

Tara, Anya, Buffy, Dawn and Xander could vividly recall the last time they saw such a portal and all five were momentarily overwhelmed by the memories. "Buffy we need to stop these demons before they attempt to open this portal" Anya stated as soon as she'd recovered from the brief trip down memory lane.

"Yeah we should get to them before they open a door to some kind of hell dimension."

"They don't have the ability to open a portal" Tara stated startling the others who had grown used to her not speaking.

"If they can't open a portal they why are we worried about them?" Dawn asked looking confused.

"The problem is that they'll attempt to open the portal whether or not they can actually do it is irrelevant."

"I don't understand" Buffy said turning to Tara for an explanation Faith , Dawn and Xander looked at her as well they were also unaware of the true problem. Tara looked to Anya who spoke up on the blonde witches' behalf when she saw that Tara was not going to say anymore.

"Opening a portal is a very complex process that is easy to get wrong. Most portals have specific requirements depending on where they lead, but there are things that are needed anytime someone attempts a portal. The main requirement is a power source usually the caster acts as their own power source so long as the portal is not too draining, which is why normally only magical beings attempt this. However, technically anyone could create a portal so long as they have a strong enough source of energy say witches blood or thunderbird eggs."

"So are these Wouj Trezor demons magical?" Xander asked.

"No and that is the problem. These demons are scavengers that travel around in large bands looking for supplies for their clan. They are typically non-violent unless provoked, but they also don't usually steal from stores or try things like this at least not according to the book Dawn found. So I think that we have to be prepared for anything with these guys."

"I still don't get it" Faith spoke up. "If these guys are not magical and are unlikely to open a portal anyway, why do we care? Why not let them do their thing and worry about something more important like this Caleb guy?"

Tara sat forward in her chair and the scoobies instantly gave her their attention. Buffy watched her more carefully than the others observing the other blonde's body language and she wasn't happy with the weariness or the agitation Tara displayed. "We care because these demons aren't magical. If they were they would probably have better idea of how to open portals correctly and we could worry about this less. The problem with any portal is that no matter where the destination is if it is done incorrectly the spell will cause a lot of damage. Anya told me earlier that one of the things that was stolen was a focusing crystal. This tells me that the demons plan to put a lot of power into this portal so they are probably trying to get somewhere very far from here and if their group is as big as a typical band or even a full clan, which can be up to 50 even 100 individuals, they would need to hold this portal open for awhile. Meaning that they'll be channeling a large amount of energy for an extended period. If this is done improperly that energy will not be containable and it will surge back and the crystal they chose will make that surge much more powerful."

"Yeah these guys obviously have no idea what they were doing" Anya added "Because if they did they'd have stolen one of my quartz crystals instead of the sapphire, the imperfections in the quartz would have prevented the backlash as the crystal would just be destroyed and only the demons closest to the crystal would have died and it would do the same thing the sapphire will if less efficiently."

"Right," Tara nodded "the crystal they chose will magnify the backlash so that if enough power is put into the spell we could end up with half of Sunnydale underground."

"While a huge crater might actually help up us with the First especially if the hellmouth and Caleb end up buried under thousands of tons of what was once Sunnydale a lot of people will end up hurt or killed as well. Not to mention that if the demons failed to find anything powerful enough to use for their attempt they will most likely go after the blood of powerful witch or say a former key in order to get the juice they will need. "

"So we now have to worry about Dawn or Tara being kidnapped so that our fangless demons can blow up half the town as well as a psychopathic priest" Xander spoke up exasperatedly. "Just when start to think things couldn't get worse they do"

"Well obviously we have to deal with the Wouj Trezor first, but we still need info on this Caleb guy so here is the plan..." Buffy handed out marching orders and was hoping that kicking these demon's asses wouldn't take long cause they had other things to do come nightfall.

* * *

Faith found herself trapped behind bars yet again and this time not because of anything she'd done. She growled once again at Anya and Buffy as her pacing took her once again into the corner of the room where they stood. "Non-violent vegetarian scavengers my ass" she ground out turning on her hell and shooting daggers with her eyes at the demons grouped on the far side of her new prison. How did we get into this she asked herself this mission should have been disgustingly easy, get in smash a few heads and get out again. So of course it all had to go wrong, so very completely wrong.


	7. Chapter 5

Originally Posted 12/3/13 Revised and Re-Posted 12/5/13

Note: Fasten your seatbelts we have now come to the true start of the story and it is a long and bumpy ride. Enjoy. ;)

Note 2: I have gone back and revised this chapter to read more smoothly so if you already read it there is nothing new here.

The Red Witch

Chapter 5

Faith was pretty pissed. Buffy's stellar plan turned into a complete clusterfuck, but maybe she was being a little hard on Buffy. After all Faith was fully behind Buffy's plan aside from one minor detail and it was probably one she herself would have come up with had she been asked to provide a plan. Sighing Faith leaned against the wall next to Tara away from Buffy and Anya. Tara was looking as tired and sad as a puppy that had been kicked one too many times then left outside in the rain, but at least she gave Faith something to think about other than the fact that she was confined in a small space with fourteen other women. Just like prison. Well Faith thought to herself at least we've got the best seats in the house for the destruction of Sunnydale, couldn't have paid for a better one. There was the small extremely unlikely chance that Xander and Spike would break from their info gathering mission and rescue them or that Giles would have made it to Peru have found the girl and be even at this moment on his way back to Sunnydale to rescue them. However, the boys had no actual way of knowing that a rescue was necessary and given that it had only been about eight hours or so since Giles left she wasn't gonna hold her breath waiting for him to show. They would have to get themselves out somehow. How did they end up in this position anyway these demons were supposed to be total pansies.

Five hours earlier...

Faith watched skeptically as Buffy sent Xander and Spike on a mission to locate any and every detail they could about the life and times of Father Psychopath and the First. Those two alone together was a recipe for disaster. If Xander didn't bring Spike back in a plastic baggie then Spike would be dragging Xander back in pieces. Faith thought Buffy would have been better off sending either Spike or Xander with one of the juniors or even sending one with the both of them to referee any fights. But Buffy had other ideas for the potentials and she needed to send someone who could take care of themselves and who knew what to look out for. Tara and Anya were needed here so that left those two unfortunately. At least they could be counted on to do what they were sent out to do even if this part of the plan was bound to end in death or something.

Once the vamp and the boy wonder had been sent on their way Buffy assigned two of the strongest potentials and two of the newest to babysit Shannon until she was ready to be released or until Buffy released them from that duty. The four of them would be armed and should be able to handle themselves and Shannon would no doubt appreciate the company since none of them could have their families near. She then split the other twelve girls into two groups one under Faith's command and the other with Buffy then it was decided that Tara would join Buffy's group and Anya Faith's so that each group had a magic user who could help track their quarry. The needed the numbers for the confrontation that would occur if either group ran into the demons since a band could have up to fifteen members. The problem in this stage of planning however was Dawn.

Buffy and Faith seriously disagreed on this point. Buffy wanted Dawn safe which was understandable. Tara had informed them that she was not powerful enough to be useful for portal creation so assuming that the Wouj Trezor knew how to read power they would not be after her. Dawn however was just powerful enough to be attractive to them. Her status as the key even if she was in human form gave her a magical energy that would more than satisfy the requirements, in fact as the key she was meant to be used for portal creation. So even if Dawn herself was never able to tap into this mystic energy she could be used by anyone else who knew how. Buffy's plan to keep Dawn out of the picture by either by leaving her home alone or forcing her to stay at the hospital was silly. The two slayers got into a fight over this that was almost physical because Dawn wished to go with them and Faith agreed that she should.

The safest place for Dawn would be near Buffy. Leaving her home alone or with the slayerettes would just be inviting the demons to kidnap the kid. At least out with them Dawn was in a large group that was highly armed and had a slayer for backup even if they were going towards the demons. After all like the kid said she was older than Buffy was when she first went out slaying and it was better for her to be helpful with them than vulnerable alone. Of course if the demons wanted her then it wouldn't matter much either way because they would attempt to attack her in any case and Buffy or someone else would still have to save her. But you'd think that she told Buffy to hand Dawn over to the demons by the way Buffy looked at Faith, still in the end Dawn and Faith got their way if only because Tara agreed with them.

Since the locator spell Tara and Anya did was unable to give them a location for their demons they were forced to take the two groups and attempt to track the demons starting where they were most likely to be given what they wanted to do. It took Faith and her group four hours to locate the abandoned two story warehouse that the demons had set up shop in. A very long and frustrating four hours because Anya's tracking charm was as little help as her locator spell. Faith called Buffy to give her the location but having started out on the opposite side of town it would take Buffy's group some time to reach them so Faith was prepared to wait before making a move at least until they were able to figure out how many demons there were and how far into the spell they'd gotten. However, they didn't have time to even attempt to spy on the place properly before they were ambushed.

The three demons Faith saw in the cemetery that night were barely taller than she was with reddish brown skin and stubby ivory horns poking through the coarse and curly dark brown hair on their head. They were built like runners with lean musculature, they wore what looked like rough-spun dark cream cloth pants and a shirt of the same material that was little more than two strips of fabric crossed over the chest in a v shape and no shoes. Those three demons she saw then inspired no fear at all if they had been hornless she could easily have mistaken them for human teens. In fact when she first saw them she had assumed that they were human teens until she saw their faces. The ones who snuck up behind her group were very, very different. These eight were much older and taller than the first ones and not a one of them was under 6'2". Their horns were twice as long as the others as well as their hair, which flowed wild and untamed down their backs. These guys were built solidly with well defined and bulging muscles and they were a deeper shade of red-brown than the others. They wore only black cloth pants with a rope belt and dagger as well as necklaces made from shells and bones, they would never be mistaken for human and they scared the crap out of Faith with how easily they were able to take her down.

For all her slayer strength Faith was barely a match for two of them. She was unable to see how well Anya and the girls were doing because she was fighting on the defensive unable to get in a strike of her own until one of her opponents was knocked off balance a little by a well thrown rock from Rona. At that point she was able to concentrate on her opponents and turn the tide. She would have won that battle if it wasn't for the demon that came up from behind her and knocked her unconscious.

When Faith regained consciousness she and the others were locked in the rear quarter of the warehouse's ground floor. At first she could see nothing that was holding any of them in that spot granted they were in an area far from any doors, but she couldn't see anything aside from the three walls that surrounded them which kept them in place until she tried to move towards the front of the warehouse. Anya tried but was unable to grab Faith before she ran smack dab into an invisible energy barrier, a force field and oh did that hurt like a bitch. Faith was just barely able to keep herself from screaming out loud as she rebounded away from the barrier but she couldn't completely stop a verbal expression of her pain as she fell to the floor. "Shit, shit, motherfucker!"

"That is a demon barrier" Anya said as she moved to help Faith get back on her feet. "No one but a demon permitted by the caster will be able to cross it. That big one with all the body art is their magician and he also seems to be the leader. He cast the barrier."

"I thought these bastards were not magical." Faith said angrily, rubbing her aching backside which she had fallen on very hard.

"So did I." Came the succinct reply.

"Why can't we hear them" asked Rona who was covered in very painful looking bumps and what was sure to be a lot of bruises.

"It is part of the magic of the barrier we can't hear them and they won't hear or see us unless tattoo guy wants them to. And any non-demons on the other side of that barrier won't be able to see or hear us either." replied Anya tersely.

It was now that Faith finally took a good look at the other girls trapped with them behind the barrier. All of them were banged up pretty badly even Anya. There was a lot of bruising, black eyes, split lips, and many scratches from sharp claws however there were no broken bones or serious injuries. It seems their demon friends went easy on them, which pissed Faith off more to know that. That she had been taken down by demons that were going out of their way to not use excessive force on them. These were no fangless losers they were warriors, so some voyeuristic Englishman got all his info about these particular demons very wrong and that was going to cost Faith and her group. She had no idea what the demons wanted from them but she respected them more now than she had before. And she was left to wait on a rescue from Buffy.

Faith watched the warriors gathered at the east wall of the warehouse there were fourteen altogether six teenagers and eight mature ones including the leader. The room was empty save a few leftover pallets, some wooden crates and a plastic folding table and lots of dust. The demons had taken some of the empty crates to make one long table which they had perpendicular to the east wall, on it lay a very large and very dead pig whose throat had been cut to the bone. Under the pig's neck was a large Tupperware bowl into which blood still dripped. Faith watched for nearly half an hour as the tattooed demon warrior used a paint brush to cover the east wall in a series of runes that spiraled counterclockwise, with the pig's blood. Already on the wall was another series of runes in what looked to be black paint these lay in a square formation around the area where the blood runes were being drawn. Altogether the runes would cover the wall entirely. Halfway done the leader stopped painting and turned to one of the older demons who had a large blue stone on his shell and bone necklace. The leader spoke to him rapidly then blue stone pointed out nine warriors including two of the teens as well as himself and the left the building through one of the doors on the west wall.

Fifteen minutes later the demons returned with Buffy's group in hand two of the potentials as well as Buffy were unconscious and were being carried in, the others were being marched in their hands restrained by their captors. Tara had one of the demon's rope belt tied around her head in such a way that a knot of it was forced between her teeth preventing her from speaking. "Well so much for being rescued by Buffy" one of the Potentials standing behind Faith said morosely. Faith could only agree. The tatted demon walked over to the barrier and placed a hand on it, without getting shocked, as one by one the demons shoved their new prisoners behind the barrier even the unconscious ones. However when it came to Dawn's turn to be shoved in as she was the last one the leader stopped her guard and gestured towards the wall. Faith untied Tara's rope bond as she watched two of the teenage demons hog-tie Dawn and place her near the empty folding table. Buffy began to stir as the demons went back to the east wall and the leader worked on his painting.

* * *

Dawn was beginning to wish that she'd listened to Buffy and stayed home or had gone with the other girls to sit with Shannon. It was very uncomfortable to be hog-tied and forced to lay on a very dusty, dirty and cold concrete floor. She watched as the tattooed demon finished up his rune drawing and the other demons gathered up their supplies from the second floor and piled them near the crate table. The tattooed demon done with his painting, placed his bowl and brush on the crates near the pig he then pulled a large light blue gem from his pocket. The other demons scrambled to put space between them and the tattooed guy as he began to chant in a language Dawn had never heard. As she watched the black paint runes began to glow lightly but the blood runes remained stubbornly dark.

The tattooed demon stopped his chant after a few minutes passed in which the blood runes still failed to glow and looked angrily at the wall. He then gazed at the wall for a few minutes as if wrestling with a decision then he turned to his demon buddies and spoke to them in another language Dawn had never heard before. One of the younger demons went to the pile of supplies that had been gathered and pulled out two new Tupperware bowls. The tattooed leader then turned to Dawn and picked her up off the floor placing her onto the plastic table. Dawn suddenly got a very bad feeling about this when she saw bowl boy coming her way so she began to squirm and scream out for Buffy. Looking toward the rear wall where she was sure they'd put her sister she began to scream louder. "Buffy! Buffy! Tara! Buffy!"

The leader untied her and before she could kick him and try to run another demon one of the young ones came and held down her legs two more held her hands while the leader pulled her until her shoulders were just barely off the table. Her arms were pulled then tied, each to a separate table leg, so that they were strained down making her shoulders ache badly though her arms were not tied tightly enough to keep her completely immobile. Her legs were tied off to the other end of the table though they were tied first together. Dawn screamed as best she could in the awkward position they had her tied in. Then as she saw the leader with the bowls and the knife she began to cry. "Buffy! Buffy! Mommy! Mommy! Willow!"

* * *

On the far side of the barrier Buffy was beating herself bloody thrashing against the force field attempting however fruitlessly to get through it to her sister, nothing Faith or the potentials tried stopped Buffy from hurting herself. In fact trying to stop her only resulted in two broken arms, broken and fractured ribs, and lots of bruising among the girls as well as Faith's broken nose, two black eyes and a rather sore and aching belly which would probably bruise very badly if she didn't have internal bleeding from the force of the kick she took. Faith held her belly with a sore arm as she searched vainly along the three solid walls for any way out of their prison. The girls who were still conscious and mobile helped her each searching for any way that would lead out to Dawn.

Anya sat atop Tara who was just as crazed as Buffy but lacked the slayer strength to overpower the ex-demon so she could throw herself against the energy barrier. Anya watched the demons from where she was while struggling to come up with any spell that she could use to open the barrier. She tried whatever she came to mind whether or not she had the necessary ingredients whether or not the spell was actually relevant to their situation. But nothing she did affected anything beyond the energy field and nothing that worked actually did anything useful. So they were all forced to watch as the demon leader cut Dawn's wrists and caught her blood in the two bowls. After a short period of time Dawn began to move weakly upon the table then stopped moving altogether.

Buffy stopped fighting and sank to her knees on the floor and vomited harshly, blood showing among the remnants of her lunch. She then curled in a ball on the floor and sobbed. Tara ceased fighting Anya and stared forward blankly no longer seeming to see anything. Faith pulled Buffy into her lap and stroked her hair offering the other slayer what little comfort she could. Anya with tears streaming down her face held Tara and the potentials looked on the gruesome scene before them with various expressions of shock and horror.

* * *

The tattooed leader took both bowls and with a fresh brush began painting over the old runes with the new blood. The blue stone demon tore the cloth shirt from one of the younger demons and used it to bind Dawn's wrists he then cut her bonds and lay her fully upon the table. As he turned away from the wall he happened to glimpse a shadow emerging from the gloom that cloaked a corner of the west wall. As he turned toward it for a better look it resolved into a human woman. A long flame haired woman wearing black leather pants and heeled boots, a blood red silk shirt under a long black leather jacket and a black chocker with a silver raven pendant on it. This woman's eyes burned bright green with an inner fire and as he stared others who saw him staring turned to look and seeing her they began to stare as well. She began to walk slowly towards them and the blue stone felt fear in a way he had not since he was first blooded a warrior.

The leader finally noticed the preoccupation of his band and turned from his task. As the woman moved she ignored his warriors and set path that ended three feet from him. "Who are you?" He asked her in his milk tongue feeling a passionate heat and hunger, lust, build within him in response to her powerful presence though she was not of his kind.

"I am the gatekeeper." She replied in his mother tongue "I've come to keep the path."

* * *

On the far side of the barrier not a sound could be heard and if a pin dropped it would be loud in the silence not that any of the women trapped there would respond to the sound. They were like statues each of them staring at the new player on the field. Tara back from her brief trip into nothingness and despair broke the silence with one word, which was quickly swallowed into the ether.

"Willow."


	8. Chapter 6

Note: This is the first chapter in a double post that I am doing for my friend The Silent Scream. Enjoy.

The Red Witch

Chapter 6

Xander had the great misfortune to have been forced to spend the last five hours in the company of one supremely annoying bleach haired vamp, and there was no end in sight to his torture. Finding the information Buffy requested was taking a lot more effort than Xander had assumed it would. He and his shadow were also hampered by the abundance of sunlight for these past five hours. Luckily this time of year the nights were long and so sundown came fast allowing them more freedom of movement, finally they were able to leave the tunnels Spike relied upon during the daylight hours. At least something had come from their hours of pretending to be rats in an underground maze. A quick chat and some well placed threats with a few of Spike's demon pals got them a general location for the eyeless freaks so they should be able to find their nest without too much trouble. They also managed to run into a vamp who happened to owe Spike a few favors and had agreed to get them police records for the priest if any to pay off his debt. However those they'd have to wait for until tomorrow so they didn't have much solid info to take home at this moment.

Which is why when Spike suggested that he and Xander track the bringers to their evil lair and do a little reconnaissance, Xander agreed. Despite his eagerness to go home he did not want to go there without something more to show for it. He recognized that they were on the losing end of this battle with the First so far and that they needed as much intel as they could get as fast as they could get it to regain some even footing.

So about half an hour after the sun had set Xander found himself outside of an old vineyard in the trees that surrounded the property. Spike had assured him that the bringer they'd followed in didn't notice them and that no one else had either. Xander didn't get the feeling that they'd been found out or that they were being watched though he did feel as strong sense of foreboding deep in his gut. It was enough that he'd opened his mouth to tell Spike that they'd come back when Buffy and Faith were available, when Spike began dashing away from the trees onto the open exposed lawn. This left Xander little choice but to follow quickly and hope that the half a minute or so it took them to reach cover near the main building wouldn't go noticed by their enemies.

Traveling through the building they were lucky enough to find very few bringers who they were easily able to avoid. There was no sign however of the priest, which was probably best because no good could from meeting him on his home field and he would be more likely than the blind bringers to notice Xander and Spike. They made it down some stairs into a large stone walled room that was covered in wooden casks that had most likely held wine at one point or another and here their luck ran out. They were so busy looking for any sign of something that might belong to Buffy be it human or otherwise that the quiet bringers were able to sneak up on them. They were at least twelve of them surrounding Spike and Xander which wasn't good in terms of odds, but Xander at least had the very good idea of bringing a small ax with him and Spike had a dagger as well as vamp strength.

In the ensuing battle Xander managed to hold his own. He killed two of the robed minions and took a second to track Spike's progress noting that the vamp had knocked out one of the bringers and had killed two more before engaging a fourth and fifth. As Xander was beginning to believe that they'd be able to finish off these guys and retreat back to Buffy's, it happened.

Xander had took on a third bringer and was seconds away from cutting it in half when he was grabbed from behind so unexpectedly that he lost his grip on the axe. Xander then realized his mistake, he and Spike had tunneled their vision to only include the enemies that were currently in the room neither of them kept an eye on the stairs they came down or Xander would have seen and Spike would have been able to warn Xander about Caleb's arrival to the party. He felt himself being tossed against one of the walls and the breath was knocked out of him so he could do nothing but collapse to the floor and try to breathe.

"Well lookie here" Caleb spoke as the remaining bringers swarmed Spike. "The slayer sends us her pet vampire and her boy. I was expecting more."

"You always expected more from her than she had." Said the First appearing a foot from Xander once again wearing Willow's face. "Xander knows, don't you Xan-man, Buffy is facing something she can't handle and she is lost because of that. All her little problems keep her from seeing the bigger picture. She has lost her way as they all have including you."

The sounds of Spike struggling against the pile of bringers that had him down were louder in the wake of Willow First's words. Xander dragged himself up the wall still struggling to regain his equilibrium, but determined not to die here in this hellhole. He spotted his ax a few feet from Caleb and made a plan to get to it and hurt the priest enough that he and Spike could escape.

"You underestimate us" he said to the thing that wore his friend like clothing. "You expect that we will fail so you won't see it when we take you down. Buffy is stronger than you give her credit for even I can see that despite all our problems." Xander had managed to get himself in a position that was almost a straight line away from his ax so he got ready to make his move.

Caleb must have noticed what he was doing or sensed him getting ready to do something because the next thing Xander knew Caleb had him pressed up against the wall on his tiptoes."You're the one who sees everything aren't you? Well let's see what we can't do about that."* Caleb said just before taking his thumb and pressing it into Xander's right eye putting it out. The intensity of the pain was such that he barely noticed Spike knocking Caleb off him or picking him up and half-guiding half-dragging him up the stairs and out of the vineyard. It was a long time before Xander was able to take notice of much of anything but he was able to think fleetingly of Anya of how much she would be hurt by his getting so seriously injured. He wanted nothing more now than to be with his wife preferably somewhere with lots of morphine.

Note: *= taken from season 7 episode 18


	9. Chapter 7

Note: In this chapter these demons do not speak English or any other Human language so whenever they speak to each other or Willow it is in a demon language.

Note2: Part of this was written while I listened to JLo's _On the Floor (ft. Pit bull)_ and Sisqo's _Thong Song (Remix),_ so if you need a soundtrack listen to those songs during the action (you'll know when ;) ).

Note3: This is the second post today so if you have not read chapter 6 please do so.

The Red Witch

Chapter 7

_The tattooed leader took both bowls and with a fresh brush began painting over the old runes with the new blood. The blue stone demon tore the cloth shirt from one of the younger demons and used it to bind Dawn's wrists he then cut her bonds and lay her fully upon the table. As he turned away from the wall he happened to glimpse a shadow emerging from the gloom that cloaked a corner of the west wall. As he turned toward it for a better look it resolved into a human woman. A flame haired woman wearing black leather pants and heeled boots, a blood red silk shirt under a long black leather jacket and a black choker with a silver raven pendant on it. This woman's eyes burned bright green with an inner fire and as he stared others who saw him staring turned to look and seeing her they began to stare as well. She walked slowly towards them and the blue stone felt fear in a way he had not since he was first blooded a warrior. _

_ The leader finally noticed the preoccupation of his band and turned from his task. As the woman moved she ignored his warriors and set path that ended three feet from him. "Who are you?" He asked her in his milk tongue feeling a passionate heat and hunger, lust, build within him in response to her powerful presence though she was not of his kind._

_ "I am the gatekeeper." She replied in his mother tongue "I've come to keep the path."_

* * *

"Where have you come from? What gate are you keeping?" The demon leader asked his new guest.

"You are attempting to open a gate through the stars, why?" The red head spoke answering his question with a question.

The leader gazed at her evenly not liking that she did not answer him with what he wanted to know, but his gut told him that he wanted her on his side. "We wish to go home. We came here to look for a treasure lost, but we have not found it in all our search so we seek our home now."

"Then you are not from this earth. You do realize that pig's blood would get you nowhere as your own body doesn't carry enough magic."

"I realized that when it didn't work that is why we had the girl she is full of power. She is our ticket home."

"You've never tried to open a portal before have you? You have drained this girl to near death," said Willow anger lacing her words as she looked over at the pale unmoving figure on the table. "And it gains you nothing, no gate will open for you with the set up you have despite the key's power."

"It was a last resort we were unable to use the return we were given we had to choose another path. Who are you to interrupt us? This is no business of yours!" The demon spoke up angrily becoming annoyed with the human woman who dared to question him and delay his band's home going.

"I am the gatekeeper. I was called here because if you try to open a portal with what you have now two thirds of this town as well as you and your band will die. You cannot get home if you are dead and your manner of death would extinguish thousands of lives."

"What is it that you propose then gatekeeper? How do we get home?"

"I can open a path for you if you are worthy of it."

"How do I prove my worth?"

The woman looked him over as if he were an object for sale and she wished to determine his value. He did not trust her stranger that she was, but her words rang true to him and she did not enter his grounds in any normal method or like the slayers and their band she would be behind the wall. "My band and I have captured the slayers and their friends is that enough to prove our might?"

"The slayers?" The woman spoke up sounding surprised "there is usually only one here."

"We found two and over powered both as well as their band. They were mighty warriors but we are greater and we have taken them down. Is that enough?"

"No." One word that held a great deal of venom. The leader did not know why the woman was so upset with him all of a sudden, but as her anger caused her power to flare he began to feel an edge of fear. "No , that is not enough you will dance with me and I will determine your worth."

"Do you have a blade?" He asked ready to offer his own if not.

The witch held up her hand and a pile of weapons near the crate table that had been stripped from the prisoners earlier and had gone unnoticed shifted. A dagger that sang with the energy and essence of the dark slayer jumped from the pile and shot smoothly to land upon the witch's outstretched palm. "I do now."

* * *

Faith sat behind the barrier Buffy still in her arms and watched as Willow shed her leather jacket and draped it across Dawn's legs. Buffy was no longer sobbing uncontrollably she was as transfixed by what could be seen beyond the barrier as Faith was. Tara had left Anya's lap and was kneeling near the barrier, but seemed to have regained her senses enough to not attempt to touch it. Anya moved to sit near Faith and Buffy with a smile on her face.

"Will is going to be able to help Dawn" she said decisively. "After all she brought Buffy back and hopefully once Dawn is awake she'll be able to get us out of here. I'm hungry and I want my Xander, it will take many many orgasms to forget this night."

"If she can bring herself back to life no doubt she can help the shrimp." Faith said partly to give Buffy a positive outlook and partly to bolster her own mood. Turning back to the girls behind her she said "prepare yourselves when Red gets us out we will need to move quickly and try to get back to Buffy's before something else attacks us."

The girls who were able began to move at her command and tended to their friends who were unable, more than one of the potentials was about to lose a shirt to help bind the broken ribs and other wounds that Buffy had inflicted in her delirium. She turned back to the action beyond the barrier sure that the girls could help themselves without any further intervention from her. Faith was surprised at what she saw happening. Willow had taken off both her jacket and shirt so that her body was covered above her waist only by a bra that matched her eyes and the choker. A very long scar made up of four parallel claw marks ran across her body from her left hip to her right shoulder and on her left shoulder she had a darkened area of skin that resembled a large bite mark.

Willow and the demon leader both held their daggers in hand and at the same time used them to make a slice about six inches long on their own shoulder. That done they covered the blades they carried on both sides in the blood that flowed from their wound. Faith really wished that she could hear what was going on and that she could understand it because it looked as if something ritualistic was about to happen.

* * *

Ten strikes and you're out, don't stop moving stay above the waist and below the neck. Willow dodged the leader's opening attack a slash at her ribs which would have left more than the necessary scratch if it had landed. So that's how he wants to play this she thought. She danced around him moving faster than he thought she could and sliced her blade down his back. Shallow because shallow wounds hurt more, she would torture him with thousands of paper cuts. The thought put a dark and sexy smirk on her face which gave her opponent pause, he was really more attracted to her than he should have been for someone not human. Willow tilted her head at him than licked her lips and made a come hither motion with her fingers. She would use all the weapons at her disposal against him so that she could keep him off kilter making it easier to fix the mess he caused. She had to do it fast because the stasis charm she cast when she first got here was already failing, Dawn wasn't going to last long and she was not going to let her die.

* * *

The two moved as if they were dancing Faith thought. Looking to her left briefly she saw Buffy standing now watching with a blank face the game of strike and counter strike. Tara still on her knees watched intently a hint of jealousy on her face as Willow used her feminine wiles to good effect. She was really working that demon guy from what Faith could see, already Willow had cut him five times and he'd only gotten her twice. Willow was not just cutting him or focusing on her movements though she was directing the blood that fell from their wounds. It was hard to see because the blood moved in drops and the fight was so much more interesting, but Faith was able to see Willow's and the leader's blood as well as Dawn's blood from the bowl paint itself against the east wall. In some cases it covered the old runes and in others it painted over the old runes making new ones. It was really fascinating to watch even though it was not nearly as entertaining as watching Willow kick tattoo guy's ass (literally, he'd be feeling that for a while). She didn't think anyone else was paying much attention to the east wall or the blood.

Willow was in full control of the battle between the two. Faith had more than enough experience to see that it didn't matter that she wasn't as strong as the muscular demon because she was faster than he was. From what she could figure out from watching, speed and stamina mattered more in the fight they had going. Whenever one of them landed a hit or failed to land a hit they both sprang apart and danced around each other before trying again never stopping. It really was more of a dance than a true fight if the blades were taken away then their movements would be almost fit for one of those reality dance shows some of the potentials liked to watch.

But it really wasn't hard to see that Willow had the upper hand the entire time. She deliberately missed on a few of her strikes and moved in such a way that her opponent was forced to counter her in a specific direction. Faith was even sure that Willow let the other cut her at least the first time, because she moved into his dagger rather than away from it and the blood that poured from, her wound made its way to the wall. The tattooed guy was at a major disadvantage not only because he was slower, but because he had to try not to trip over his own tongue or slip in his own drool whenever he tried to strike at Willow that and he didn't seem to figure out what she was doing when she herded him into specific positions.

* * *

Six to three Willow thought the runes are complete it's time to end this. In a series of moves almost too fast to keep track of Willow delivered three solid strikes against her opponent's ribs and pecs. But he surprised her when she went in for the last which she'd aimed at his upper hip. He dodged her strike leaving her slightly unbalanced as he then slashed his blade down her chest catching her bra and the outer curve of her breast which stung a lot. She spun away from him and turned back in time to deliver a final slice to his ribs just as his blade cut across her abs.

"Ten" she called to him when it looked as if he'd come in for another strike. They both stood unmoving as two of the younger males came up to them to make counts. "Ten" said the one standing near his leader as the other called five.

"I am defeated" spoke the leader not seeming too upset at his loss. In accordance with custom he acknowledged her superiority by slowly licking a cut on her upper chest which went over her clavicle then dropping to one knee before and bared his neck while offering his blade hilt first. Willow shuddered the licking having grossed her out, but she finished the ritual by taking his blade and drawing it across his throat so that it left a thin red line of blood. "My service is yours" he spoke surprised at her not taking his life.

Willow glanced at him briefly then offered his blade back to him and gestured for him to stand, which he did bowing to her as he rose. Willow then spoke under her breath quickly and threw Faith's dagger at the east wall so hard that it sank in a few inches before it stopped. Her throw landed the dagger in the dead center of the blood rune spiral and once it stuck all the runes around it began to glow brightly before forming a swirling vortex of light. The demons all gasped with surprise and joy and the leader turned to her confusion written all over his face.

"I lost" he said to her before looking at the portal longingly.

"It will take you and yours home, go before I change my mind."

He looked at her one last time and nodded then bowed deeply to her again turning as he gestured to his band. The demons scrambled quickly and gathered their supplies as well as the dead pig before rushing through the portal one by one lead by the blue stone demon. The leader was the last, he stood by the portal until all the others had gone then he turned and looked at Willow one last time before he entered the portal himself. Once he passed Willow held out her hand and Faith's dagger flew back into it causing the portal to dissipate and all the runes on the wall to disappear.

With waiting another second Willow rushed over to Dawn dropping the dagger on the folding table as she rushed to check the pulse point in Dawn's neck then stuck two of her fingers underneath Dawn's nose. Willow grinned at feeling the very faintest of breaths from the overly pale teen she'd felt her charm fail completely moments ago and was afraid that she wouldn't make it on time, but she still had a chance. Placing one bloody hand upon Dawn's forehead and the other on her chest just over heart Willow began to chant quietly and forcefully. Her hands glowed with a pale blue light as her wounds and her nose began to pour blood like miniature waterfalls. After a few moments the glow faded and Willow fell to the floor feeling weak from the blood loss. She allowed herself a few moments to rest and check her wounds before trying to get up. It took her a few tries because of the dizziness and weakness she felt, but she was able to stand eventually using the table as a prop. By then her wounds and nose had stooped pouring blood so she was no longer in danger of exsanguination.

It was this time that Dawn began to stir on the table she was looking much better than she had just ten minutes ago her breathing was strong and even and she was no longer so deathly pale. As Willow leaned over Dawn bringing her hand up to stroke the teen's cheek lovingly Dawn opened her eyes and screamed.


	10. Chapter 8

The Red Witch

Chapter 8

_Without waiting another second Willow rushed over to Dawn dropping the dagger on the folding table as she moved to check the pulse point in Dawn's neck then stuck two of her fingers underneath Dawn's nose. Willow grinned at feeling the very faintest of breaths from the overly pale teen she'd felt her charm fail completely moments ago and was afraid that she wouldn't make it on time, but she still had a chance. Placing one bloody hand upon Dawn's forehead and the other on her chest just over heart Willow began to chant quietly and forcefully. Her hands glowed with a pale blue light as her wounds and her nose began to pour blood like miniature waterfalls. After a few moments the glow faded and Willow fell to the floor feeling weak from the blood loss. She allowed herself a few moments to rest and check her wounds before trying to get up. It took her a few tries because of the dizziness and weakness she felt, but she was able to stand eventually using the table as a prop. By then her wounds and nose had stooped pouring blood so she was no longer in danger of exsanguination. _

_ It was this time that Dawn began to stir on the table she was looking much better than she had just ten minutes ago her breathing was strong and even and she was no longer so deathly pale. As Willow leaned over Dawn bringing her hand up to stroke the teen's cheek lovingly Dawn opened her eyes and screamed._

_XXX_

Willow jerked back startled by the very loud and high pitched scream and Dawn still surprised by what she assumed was the First scrambled backwards and fell off the table. "You alright Dawnie?" Willow asked with concern.

"Yeah just peachy" Dawn said sarcastically standing up and rubbing the back of her head. "What are you doing here? Don't you get your rocks off enough torturing us at home do you really need to follow us around as well? Don't you have a life you evil bitch?"

An expression of hurt and confusion crossed Willow's face, but she turned away from Dawn before she could see it. Willow looked down at the blood that covered her body and let out a sigh before carefully picking up her clothes from where they landed on the floor and putting them back on. Fully dressed she looked back to Dawn ready to get the info she needed about the slayers' whereabouts before starting her search for them. Dawn was staring at her with a frozen expression of shock her eyes wide and mouth open.

"Willow" Dawn whispered unsurely. "Willow is it really you?."

"It was the last time I checked" She answered flippantly too drained to deal with whatever was happening. She didn't expect to be welcomed back with open arms but a "hey Willow thanks for saving my ass" was not too much to ask for was it? So she was completely thrown off when Dawn flew around the table and latched on to her so hard that she swore she heard a rib break, there was enough pain for it certainly.

Willow grimaced with pain feeling her knife wounds break open and start to bleed again still she didn't try to break out of Dawn's embrace or even moderate it. She was grateful that Dawnie cared for her still and she let herself enjoy the closeness as much as she could. When Dawn finally pulled away Willow couldn't help but release a sigh of relief as her tense and pain wracked body was able to relax again.

"I'm so so sorry Willow, I thought you were the First and I was scared, I missed you so so much." The overexcited teenager spoke in a rush without breathing. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it Dawnie."

"I'm sorry"

Willow sighed and brought the teen into another hug lowering them both to them floor as she felt her strength begin to leave her and the room become spinny. She murmured "I love you"s and "it's ok"s as well as "I forgive you"s as she held the sobbing teen and tried not to pass out. She'd lost a lot more blood then she'd thought and she didn't have a enough energy to even attempt to heal herself. Funny how it always cost more to heal your own body rather than someone else and there was still the problem of the missing scooby gang she thought. Once Willow felt the teen had enough time to break down for now she pushed her away enough so that she could see her face.

"Dawnie I need you to do something for me, I need to eat or drink something to regain some energy so we can find your sister and get out of here."

"Those demons had a lot of supplies stored up I'll check upstairs and see if they left anything." Dawn said eagerly through her sniffles.

"Ok, take one of those knives though from the pile over there just in case."

The teen grabbed a random weapon from the pile and quickly made her way to the stairs. Willow lay her head back against one of the table legs and closed her eyes wanting to get in a quick rest before Dawn was back and she had to force herself to move.

XXX

Behind the barrier both Tara, Faith and Buffy wore identical looks of relief over Dawn and worry for their rescuer. Anya wore a look of satisfaction because Willow proved her correct but she too was worried about the witch, who looked to have spent too much energy healing Buffy's sister and was in no state to magic them out of their box.

Tara was feeling several very complicated emotions all at once. Now that Dawn was out of danger she was feeling significantly better than she had fifteen minutes ago, but that anxiety did not completely disappear. Seeing what was presumably Willow alive and here was a major shock to her system. She had no reason to ever suspect that this would happen that her lost love would return to her. She never told the others but she had once tried to bring Willow back. That experiment failed she didn't have the power or moxie to pull something like that off. As much as she wanted to, Tara had been raised to respect magic and all the rules that were imposed on its use. In even attempting what she did she broke several of those rules and the guilt alone the wrongness of it would have kept her from finishing even if her power level wasn't at par with Will's.

She was ashamed to admit that in the past she'd been jealous of Will's power. That she, who'd been born into the world of witch craft would have less power than someone who'd stumbled into it. Willow had succeeded in doing things Tara could only dream of trying and though their power was greater when they were together separately there was always a distinction. But Tara had the control and grounding that Will always lacked and there were times when she had to wonder if her jealousy caused her to fail in her duty to her lover, to give her the full basic teaching that Willow so obviously lacked. She had no thoughts of jealousy now, but that guilt was still with her and seeing Willow so injured and weak made her feel even more guilty than she had when she thought Willow was dead.

Then there was the love and joy. The overwhelming urge to go to Willow and use what power she had to heal her and care for her. To sleep beside her once again and eventually to reforge their connection emotionally and physically. She felt the tatters of their soul bond but she knew that it would resonate with Willow and repair itself once she held the red head in her arms again. If that was what Willow wanted. She still remembered that strange dream she'd had when she woke up so turned on and she wondered if Willow had found someone else after she'd let her go.

And also she was worried because Willow wasn't looking very strong right now. It could not have been the portal or even the healing that had drained her so much. Something else had to have happened tonight that they weren't aware of because Willow had used a lot of magic power within the last few hours. So who was this returned Willow and was she better or worse than she had been before? Would Tara need to manage her magic use again? One thing she knew for certain she'd lived without Willow once and the pain of it nearly drove her mad, so she would not do without her soul mate again. She would help her in any way necessary and remain by her side even if all that was left for her was friendship, as painful as that would be.

XXX

Dawn returned twenty minutes after she'd left notably dustier than before with a single bottle of water, a half smushed chocolate bar with almonds in it and an apple. Hopefully that would be enough for Willow because there was nothing else except several spiders and probably rats. She couldn't see them, but she could hear those creepy rodents and they were freaking her out. So was the itching on her wrists. She saw the improvised dressing that had been tied there but she was afraid to remove it. She remembered the cuts that had been made and the blood seeping down her hands and in the light of the ground floor of the warehouse she saw the blood that covered her all over. Part of her was afraid that she was dead and Willow was here to take her to the afterlife and another part of her was just afraid. She was sure that Willow had saved her, had come back for her but in what capacity she didn't know.

Having reached Willow, Dawn made a move to touch her shoulder and gently wake her. She was startled when Willow opened her eyes before Dawn actually touched her and she just managed to hold in a loud shriek. She passed over the chocolate first and then opened the water for her. Once the chocolate was gone and Dawn had passed over the apple and water she took a deep breath and pulled at the ties on her wrists. Her poor hands were pale from lack of proper blood flow so she couldn't ignore them anymore.

Once the wrappings were off she was pleased to see that her wrists didn't gush blood again, but under the stain of the dried blood that was there she could see an angry red line on each wrist. She would forever be marked by this experience and though she was nowhere near depressed, or at least not enough to have considered taking her own life, anyone who saw her scars would assume it. That thought made her sad, but at least she was alive really who could ask for more.

Dawn's left wrist was grabbed as Willow paused in her snack long enough to examine the flesh there. "I couldn't prevent the scarring and still have enough juice to get us out of here. Sorry Dawnie"

"It's ok Willow I'm just glad to be alive. I was sure I was dead when the tattoo guy came at me with the bowls." Dawn responded sincerely.

Willow turned back to her snack and once the apple was reduced to a core and the water drained she looked as if she'd gained a second wind. "Where is Buffy and Faith?" Willow asked turning to Dawn again.

Dawn took her time to explain everything that had happened that day ending with her sister's group being tossed behind an invisible force field and herself being hogtied. Willow then made a move to get up and Dawn watched anxiously ready to assist if need be, but Willow managed without looking as if she'd pass out. So Dawn tried not to hover too closely. They both walked toward the wall where Dawn was sure the barrier was, but they met the wall without any indication of it being an illusion.

"Hmm, clever" Willow said feeling along the wall with a thoughtful expression.

"What is it?" Dawn asked curious.

"A demon barrier originally used to imprison demons that were going to be needed in spells. We can't see or hear them and they can see but not hear us."

"How did you know?"

"Partly because you told me some of its characteristics and partly because you can feel it. Close your eyes and touch it there isn't a cool drywall feel, but there is a slightly warm tingly feeling."

"Yeah there it is." Dawn said her eyes still closed "so how do we get them out?"

Willow stared at the fake wall a bit running her hands over different sections and then she stopped with her classic resolve face on. "Ok stand back Dawn. Are you sure Faith is back there?"

"Not really" Dawn said while moving back, "but she did call us here and those guys could have taken them like they did us."

"I hope so" Willow said holding her hand palm up. "I can't afford to lose any more blood."

The bloody dagger that was laying on the folding table landed on Willow's open palm and she chanted something in Latin that caused it to flash once brightly then glow a soft blue. "A mini light saber this is. Cuts through energy and solids it does." Willow said then turned to Dawn with a silly grin on her lips and Dawn could only laugh at her goofiness.

When she was facing the false wall again Willow knelt down and forced the knife through the barrier slowly she brought it back up until she was standing once again. Then she started calling for Faith.

"I thought you said they couldn't hear us?" Dawn asked confused.

"They can't, but this is Faith's knife it calls to her and I need her to touch it so that she can help me get them out." Willow replied without turning from the barrier, speaking slowly and evenly as if trying to force Faith to hear her or read her lips. "Ah, there she is."

Dawn watched carefully as Willow went completely silent and still for the next few minutes. Then she begin to move again sliding the blade up as high as she could reach before walking slowly sideways.

"Dawn, I need you to put your hand into the door I'm cutting and grab Faith's hand, whatever you do don't let her go."

Dawn nodded and put her hand to the center of what was Willow's doorway. She expected to meet a solid feeling wall but to her surprise it felt more like melting candle wax that wasn't quite liquid yet. So she forced her hand through until she could feel air on the other side and something grabbed her hand. "That's Faith right?" she asked Willow nervously.

"Yeah grab her tight Dawn don't let go until I say. By the way I put a ward on your house no demon or anyone intending you harm will be able to enter the yard without yours or Buffy's permission. That means that if Spike is still around you'll have to invite him in again."

"You're coming with us right?" Dawn asked once again anxious. Willow had just finished making the cut that went down to the floor and she brought the knife up at an angle towards Dawn and Faith's clasped hands before she spoke.

"I'll be there soon, but I've got to take care of something first" She said now fully standing and unmoving next to Dawn.

"How do I know that you're coming back that you aren't leaving me again?" Tears started building up behind the teen's eyes her expression heartbreaking as she looked at the red haired witch.

Willow reached up with her free hand and took her choker off and placed it in Dawn's hand. "That was given to me by a very good friend of mine and it is very special to me. I'm going to want that back so if nothing else it will remind you that I am coming back to you."

Dawn looked down at the black ribbon necklace and nodded shoving it deep into her pocket. "I'll keep is safe for you."

"Good, now on three we pull back together don't let go of Faith's hand until you see Buffy get out. She should be the last one in line. No one lets go you understand? If they do everyone else is stuck until I have the energy to do this again which may take awhile. Pull hard on three."

Dawn pulled at the given signal and Faith's arm started coming through. It was like the barrier was resisting her though so it took more effort than it really should have. Once Faith's shoulder was out Dawn switched to a two handed grip and pulled harder. She glanced back over her shoulder as Willow walked away dropping Faith's knife back on the table and moving towards the front door. She's coming back Dawn thought I have her choker she's coming back.

"Hey Kid pull" Faith said to her snapping her back to her present duty. Faith was laughably stuck in the barrier half of her out and half of her still in. So Dawn turned to her and started pulling again beyond ready to go home, bathe, eat and sleep in that order. And any potential or slayer who got in between her and the bathroom would need medical help.


	11. Chapter 9

The Red Witch

Chapter 9

It had taken nearly three hours for everyone (or nearly everyone) to get home from the warehouse. It took Dawn and Faith thirty minutes to pull everyone out of the barrier. The resistance of the force field worked against them as well as the fact that several girls were badly injured and in no condition to pull themselves or others out so they had to be creative in figuring out a way to get them out. Finally they managed and Buffy with a new layer of guilt resting on her already troubled heart had to then get them to the hospital. Some of the girls were not bad enough off to require hospitalization and Tara could take care of them at home once she'd had enough rest. But the others especially those with broken ribs would require more immediate care and couldn't afford to wait for the blonde witch to get to them. All in all five of the girls had to stay at least overnight and three others were given care in the emergency room before being released and this was Buffy's fault.

Buffy wanted to insist that Dawn get checked over, but any doctor who saw her wounds would put her in suicide watch for the next 72 hours. They couldn't afford that so Tara kept Dawn back out of the way of any health care professionals and promised to look her over that night before bed. Buffy took out the time while they were there to touch bases with the four potentials on Shannon duty and update them as well as ensure that they knew to look out for the other potentials in the hospital, who were luckily placed close to each other making this easier. She promised to have them relieved by more potentials once Tara had a chance to go over them all the next morning. She heard the nurses near Shannon's room speak of a guy who'd had an eye put out but she just shuddered and allowed herself to be glad that her girls still had all their parts.

Once they finally reached home the entire group was more than tired and far past exhausted. The whole experience had used up quite a bit of adrenaline and energy and it was highly unlikely that anyone would do anything but fall into bed blood, dust, grime, hunger and all. For Buffy however the notion of bed was forcefully pulled from her head when she saw Spike pacing up and down the sidewalk in front of her house looking very agitated. It was then that Dawn finally remembered to tell the slayer about the ward Willow claimed to have put on the house. Buffy took Spike's pacing the sidewalk as evidence that Will's ward worked.

When Spike finally noticed the group he began rushing toward them. Buffy spared a though for Xander's location while she positioned herself to be directly in Spike's path. She was confused and upset when he blew right past her to Anya who was at the end of the group playing rear guard with Faith.

"You need to come quick Pet, your boy is in trouble." He said to her

"Xander, Xander... what kind of trouble Spike?!" Anya replied becoming visibly anxious and more and more agitated with each word.

"He's at the hospital and he needs you right now, we have to go."

Without another word both Anya and Spike took off running back the way the women had come from. Buffy was left with the others neither Spike nor Anya had paid her the least bit of attention and so she was left behind. However she wasn't going to stay home now not if Xander was in trouble though she did have a responsibility towards the girls so she made a few quick decisions.

"Faith, Tara take the girls inside and keep them there Willow's ward should be enough to keep you guys safe until I come back. No one leaves the house period." She then turned to run after Anya and Spike, but was stopped by simultaneous declarations from both Tara and Dawn.

"I'm coming too!"

"He is our friend as well Buffy" Tara added.

"Tara I need you here with the girls I'll update you as soon as I know what's going on. Dawn you stay here I mean it I can't worry about anyone else tonight, I need you to stay here." The last part was said while Buffy stared directly into Dawn's eyes her fear for her sister and emotional vulnerability, which lingered from her break down, showed clearly in her eyes and face. Dawn could do nothing but swallow and nod while Buffy turned her eyes to Faith.

"I've got this B, go take care of your boy."

Buffy gave Faith a faint smile and a look of gratitude that she rarely bothered with when it came to the dark slayer then she turned and ran as if hell itself were chasing her.

* * *

As fast as she ran Buffy never caught sight of either blonde until she found Spike waiting for her in the surgical floor's waiting room but Anya was missing. Spike quickly informed her that according to the doctor Xander pulled through surgery well and was being moved to a room on the third floor after he left recovery. Anya was being allowed as his wife to see him for ten minutes upstairs before they moved him. He then told her that they were to meet Anya upstairs in the third floor's lounge where he would explain exactly what happened.

Buffy tried pressing Spike for more answers but the vampire seemed more than a bit shaken and a little unhinged, so she got nothing more from him than an insistence that they go upstairs to wait for Anya. When Anya finally showed twenty minutes later under the escort of a no nonsense looking nurse Buffy was past ready for some answers but she made it a point of trying to comfort Anya first.

"Is he ok Anya?" she asked while holding the ex demon and guiding her to a chair. The nurse walked off after telling them that she'd return to let them know which room Xander was in.

"He lost his eye" Anya sobbed. "He did well in surgery but they couldn't save his eye. My husband is a pirate now!"

"Oh my." Buffy was in shock far too much had happened in one night. From the disaster that was her plan for stopping the demons, to Dawn's near death, to this. And there was still the mystery that was Willow if that was even Willow in the warehouse. Buffy was suddenly struck by the thought that maybe Willow could help Xander, she was his oldest friend so it wouldn't be hard to convince her. If the slayer could find her. But Buffy decided it was best not to speak about that out loud just in case, she would have to find the red head first.

"Spike what happened?" Buffy demanded.

Spike paced in front of the two women explaining as best he could what happened once he and Xander left Buffy's. About the search and following the bringer Caleb and the ambush. He ended by telling them that he and Xander had been lucky to even get out of there had Caleb brought more bringers with him Spike would have dust and Xander a corpse.

Neither Buffy nor Anya could fault Spike for what happened, much to his relief, but this was going to bring down morale even further. Already Buffy was beginning to feel even more guilt along with the sympathetic pain for her friend.

Buffy spent the next thirty minutes that it took the nurse to return with a room number filling in Spike about their night. When they finally did get to Xander he was asleep and according to the doctor very likely to sleep until the next morning at least and he'd be heavily medicated when he did wake. Buffy did call Tara to keep her promise about giving an update and to ask if Tara knew of anything that could help Xander. Unfortunately she didn't though she promised to look, but she wasn't very optimistic about it there was a big chance there would be nothing to find. Times like this made Buffy wish that Giles was available he'd know without a doubt if anything could be done, but he wasn't going to be back for at least another day.

Buffy and Spike returned to her home after about an hour and a half of sitting with Anya. As his wife Anya was allowed to stay in his room but Buffy and Spike were already past visiting hours when they were kicked out. Besides the slayer was due for some rest anyway. Both slayer and vamp were so tired and drained that they forgot about the ward so Spike literally walked into it before Buffy thought to invite him in. The house was quiet when they got in and Spike went to crash in the basement with Buffy's permission, she felt better having another experienced fighter near especially with all the attacks that they've gone through and that have occurred at her home since the First became active.


	12. Chapter 10

The Red Witch

Chapter 10

When Buffy and Spike finally returned from the hospital neither of them noticed Faith though she sat in a chair near the front door and both walked right past her. Spike went straight to the basement, but Buffy went upstairs to her bed or so Faith thought. The dark Slayer was in a good deal of pain and truthfully it was this that kept her from sleeping though she told herself that she was keeping an eye on things for Buffy and ensuring that everyone in the house stayed safe. She was hoping that she didn't have internal injuries and that her Slayer healing would kick in and save her ass if she did.

She should have gone to get checked while they were in the hospital and she knew she was wrong not to. But she couldn't bring herself to do that when she knew that Buffy would just feel even more guilty and she absolutely hated hospitals anyway probably because she'd spent so much time in them, so she sat here alone in the dark in pain while everyone else slept. Once the adrenaline had worn off she felt all of her injuries and her body strongly protested its misuse. She highly doubted that she could get up from the chair even if she wanted to. What she really wanted at that moment was the bottle of Jack she had in her duffel but it probably wasn't the best idea to drink now so she didn't, still she was very tempted. As Faith maneuvered herself into a slightly less painful position Buffy came back into the room and finally spotted her counterpart because of the muffled moan Faith couldn't help but make as she moved.

"Faith are you ok?"

"Fine B, five by five. How's Xander?"

Buffy sighed and sat on the couch across from Faith, which had been doubling as Faith's bed for the past few months. "He's not good. He'll live, but he will never be the same again unless we can find some magical way of helping him."

"I don't think magic can do that. T had me helping her research for awhile after she got your call but we didn't find anything. Pretty much everything we found said that we can't fix him."

"Damn it. I was hoping... Anya was so crushed and Xander is the sweetest guy. He doesn't deserve this." Buffy stood abruptly and began pacing angrily. "I'd ask Giles but he won't be here for who knows how long and what if there is a limit on how long we have to help Xander."

Buffy suddenly stopped pacing and fell backwards onto the couch with an exhausted sigh. "I want to find Willow I'm hoping she can help him. But I have no idea where she could be and I am so tired. This day sucked. Why are you still up anyway?"

"I couldn't sleep like you said this day sucked."

"Are you sure you're ok? Maybe you should have got yourself checked out too your nose is gonna heal all crooked."

"Five by five. I'll have T look at my nose when she wakes up. You can re-break it for me if it's healed already."

Buffy smiled grimly at that, remembering that Faith's condition was her fault in the first place. "You should go to sleep soon get some rest."

"Naw, I really don't think I can I'm just gonna chill here and think for a while."

An idea came to Buffy then one that she hoped Faith would go along with if only for Xander's sake though she wanted it for her own sake as well. "Since you aren't going to sleep for a while anyway would you mind looking for Willow. Just for a few hours at least. I'm going to go looking for her myself when I wake up if you haven't found her already, but the sooner we get her back the sooner she can help Xander. Please."

This request from her counterpart put Faith in a real bind. On the one hand she was fairly certain that she should not be moving at all given her injuries. On the other hand refusing Buffy meant having to reveal her injuries to the other Slayer as she really had no reason otherwise to say no. If Buffy knew how bad off Faith was she'd insist on the hospital and Faith was too stubborn to want to go, she had vowed to herself to never get caught there again. And Faith was sure she'd be stuck there for days if she did go, while they were there earlier she never even went inside. Besides this was a genuine request from the other Slayer and not an order, she had even said please which had become rare from Buffy.

"Sure B. Walking around will probably help me think anyway I'll leave in a few minutes."

"Thanks I really appreciate this. I'll owe you one."

"Don't worry about it I like Xander too. He's a cool cat and if Willow might be able to help then I'll find her for him."

Buffy stood and gave Faith a look of gratitude then left heading back upstairs to her room. Faith sat on the chair gathering her strength and then by sheer force of stubborn will picked herself up out of the chair to her feet without a sound. Swaying slightly she carefully maneuvered herself to the front door. She didn't bother stopping for a weapon in her condition she probably wouldn't be able to carry or use any, so she just had to hope trouble stayed away for one night. Faith told herself that she would check one place and then come back so that she could honestly tell Buffy that she did look.

The two likeliest places that she thought she'd find the witch in were the motels near were Faith used to stay when she first came to Sunnydale and the witch's parents house. The red head had been as drained as Faith was feeling now so Faith didn't think that she'd left town or went looking for more trouble just yet. The closest place to Buffy's was Will's parent's place so she'd head there and then come back, hopefully still in one piece.

* * *

In the end it took Faith nearly two hours to make the 15 minute walk to Willow's old home. One reason was that she'd only been there once while spying on the Scoobies for the mayor and other than that she only knew in general where it was. Another reason was the further she walked the weaker she got until by the time she had reached the house she was wheezing badly and every so often coughing like an old smoker whose pack a day habit finally caught up with them and she could barely move. Even her sheer stubborn will could do no more for her and she collapsed on the front porch blood from her coughing fits splattered over her mouth, hands and shirt. Grabbing a broken piece of a chair that once sat on the porch she managed to ring the doorbell once before her strength completely failed her. Luckily for her someone was actually home this time and actually came to the door despite the late (or early however you look at it) hour and in this town that was a miracle (or the sign of an idiot however you look at it).

When Faith next woke she was lying naked in a strange bed in a strange room cuddled next to an equally naked red head who was not so strange (or at least not a stranger). Her very first thought was; how much did I drink last night to not remember this? Her second was why am I so wet? And the third was Tara is so going to kick my ass, Slayer or not. After that last thought her first action was to move away from her bedmate. In moving she found that she was feeling pretty damn good with not even a twinge of pain just a little soreness and dry mouth though her throat did ache just a little. The room was dark lit only by a single oil lamp on the desk and all the windows as well as the glass doors leading outside seemed to be closed as well as covered by the curtains.

She could now remember the events of last night up to her passing out, but none of it explained why she was in the condition she was in. She got off the bed and stumbled into the nearest wall as her body healed or not was not quite ready to be up and about. Then she stubbornly made her way to the dresser on the opposite wall intent on finding something to wear. Faith noticed now that the room was as hot as a sauna though the air was dry and the bed she'd just left was covered in a pile of blankets. At least that explained why she was wet her body was covered in sweat, so she resolved to take a nice cool shower right after she found what she needed.

Reaching the dresser she found nothing but fuzzy sweaters and cutesy shirts, clothes she would not be caught dead in. Just as she decided to walk around nude until she got back to Buffy's laughter coming from behind her had her turning around a little too fast making her dizzy.

"Check the last drawer there should be a few pairs of sweatpants there and a couple of my old high school t-shirts." Faith stared dumbly as the too amused red head rose out of the bed and stretched not giving a thought to her current state of undress. "You won't get a shower right now though there is still no water or electricity in the house yet. I'll have to take care of that later."

Faith was still playing at being a perfect statue as Willow lifted a brow at her and then proceeded to get the clothes herself. Handing Faith a pair of sweatpants and a shirt Willow walked out the room another set of clothes in her hand. "I'll get us something to snack on before we head to Buffy's" the red head called out from beyond the door.

Faith stood still for another few moments staring at the doorway with a look of appraisal and arousal wondering how to avoid getting killed by Tara if she did what she wanted to do in that moment. She shook her head and put the idea aside for a while dressing quickly and blowing out the lamp before following the sounds of cabinets opening and closing to the kitchen. She was suddenly super hungry as well as turned on.

When she got there Willow was fully dressed and holding two cans of Chef Boyardee. Bottled water and hot cans of Coke on the countertop. "Spaghetti or ravioli?"

Faith chose a random can and grabbed one of the plastic forks Willow held out to her neither bothering with the dusty bowls in the open cabinet behind Willow. Faith stared at Willow while eating, a little too obvious with her thoughts if Willow's smirk was any indication.

"Got a problem Slayer?" The witch asked in a flirty tone. But that prompted Faith to ask the question that had been on her mind since she'd awoken not fifteen minutes before.

"Why was I naked? If you wanted to ravish me I'm good with that I'd just rather be conscious for it."

"Oh Baby. Don't you remember our night of passion? You said I rocked your world and I was definitely pleased but you've still got a lot to learn. Don't worry we can try again later."

Faith stopped eating thrown off her game a bit wondering just for a moment how the hell she could forget something like that, when Willow starting laughing at her again. The nerve of her, a lot to learn indeed she wouldn't dare say that once Faith had her in bed.

"You came here on death's door and it was all I could do to keep you alive. I healed you as much as I could but doing that strained me because I had already used so much energy and a consequence of that was a temporary but very bad case of hypothermia. I borrowed your body heat and even after the worst had passed because I was still having trouble maintaining my body temperature so we both stayed naked. You look fine now though Slayer healing is amazing how do you feel?"

"Compared to yesterday pretty damn good. Thanks Red I owe you one. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good now. Why did you come here anyway when you should have been in a hospital somewhere? If I hadn't been here we'd be down a Slayer."

Faith suddenly remembered her mission and Xander, and looking through the kitchen window she noticed that it was night time. So she'd been here all day and no one knew and who knows what has been happening outside.

"What time is it?" She asked suddenly very disturbed.

"About 8 o'clock. What's wrong?"

"I've been here all day. I was supposed to get you so you could help Xander, but I didn't know how bad off I was."

"You've been here two days. We have both been really sick, but you slept the whole time I didn't. What am I supposed to help Xander with?"

"Two days! Damn." Faith was shocked by that and scared now that she realized fully just how bad off she'd been. They had to get back to the others right away no telling what had happened while she was asleep. But first she had to fill in Willow about what had went down after they escaped the demon prison.

* * *

12/28/13- I have opened a poll to help me see which pairing is more supported by my readers. Please vote to share your opinion. I am not guaranteeing that I will stick with the poll results, but it will weigh in heavily on what I write in future chapters. Poll closes sometime within the next 4 updates. Thank you.

Poll can be found on my homepage.


	13. Chapter 11

The Red Witch

Chapter 11

Willow and Faith were just inside the entrance of Buffy's house when they heard Willow's voice which startled them both. Willow even put a hand to her throat to be sure she wasn't the one speaking because the voice was such a ringer for her own. Looking at Faith she noticed an understanding pass over the Slayer's face so she made a questioning gesture with her hands not willing to speak until she knew what was going on.

"The First" Faith mouthed at her. But this was no help at all because she had no idea who or what the First was. The conversation she'd had with Faith before walking over here covered only Caleb and his involvement with Xander's injury. Willow wouldn't wait longer to hear the whole story because Xander was her very oldest friend. So even though she specifically left the warehouse when she did to postpone the Scooby reunion until she felt healthy enough to deal with whatever happened she insisted on leaving as soon as Xander and hurt passed Faith's lips. Appropriately enough Xander's voice was the next that they heard as they crept towards the voices remaining out of sight.

"You just had to ruin my homecoming. Not enough that your nutso priest did this to me you have to ruin my evening as well."

"Oh Xander, I always liked you. I didn't want you hurt but you insisted on sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. So now you complain that you got bit." A dramatic sigh "That can happen when poke a sleeping doggy. You know, why are you here with Buffy? Why are any of you here? This battle is hers she's the Slayer and you're all just her pawns, cannon fodder. You could leave now and stay out of this whole mess after all what has Buffy done for any of you? She herself injured half the girls she's supposed to be protecting and Xander was hurt very badly on her behalf. Not to mention she's the reason I'm dead and the reason that Faith is now as good as dead. Really Buffy you would send a girl with internal injuries out to do your bidding? Slayers heal fast but not always fast enough"

Willow quickly stepped into sight before the First could continue her speech as she saw some were being swayed by it. Maybe they wouldn't outright leave, but if the First succeeded in just spreading doubt about Buffy and planted strife among the others it could ruin their chances at accomplishing their goals.

"Do I really talk like that? I know I tend to ramble sometimes but come on."

"Actually Red you do kinda talk like that." Faith spoke up, poking at Willow's shoulder with her finger.

"I do not I am not nearly so dramatic."

"Are too."

"Am **not**." Willow then went into full on pout mode completing her childish argument with the dark Slayer with a childish expression that got Faith to quickly stand down from their entertaining quarrel. Women who can make pouts sexy and cute at the same time are damned dangerous. In any case Faith and Willow now had the undivided attention of everyone in the room even the First.

"Will" Xander called out softly, hesitantly. Willow would find out later that he hadn't been told of her return at Anya's request. But for now she was a little thrown by his awestruck and suddenly teary gaze.

"Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." Willow said very dramatically earning yet another poke from Faith to which she responded by sticking out her tongue at the Slayer. "And Faithy here isn't quite dead either." A poke at Faith's shoulder this time, which caused the Slayer to grin. Between the two of them they had managed to change the atmosphere in the room enough to hopefully put a crater in the efforts the First was making to divide and conquer. Willow made a mental note to thank Faith later for helping her achieve this, the younger Slayer caught on quickly and was way more intelligent than she'd given her credit for in the past.

"But you are behind the times buddy." Willow left Faith's side to walk towards the First and pace around it studying it while it studied her. Apparently the First hadn't been aware that she was alive because it looked very surprised and Willow was more than a little freaked to see herself without the aid of a mirror though she managed to hide that.

The First mirrored Willow's appearance just before her death but Willow no longer identified with the girl she used to be. For Willow three and a half years passed in the months her friends lived believing she had died. None of them knew it yet but this Willow was very different from their Willow and it showed a little physically. For one she'd gone back to wearing her hair long it fell beneath her shoulders now not to mention all the new scars she now carried. Plus Willow was now a little more built than she had been before, circumstances had forced her to tone and strengthen her body. Something everyone who saw her shirtless had noticed and something Faith was well aware of as she'd seen her completely naked.

Willow stopped her appraisal to look herself in the eye. "By any chance are you an ancient evil bent on wiping out anything remotely good from the face of the Earth?"

The First seemed confused and put out by both Willow's question and appearance. For sure none of the people who currently lived in that house had ever seen it anything but sharp witted and very adaptive. However it was beginning to recover from its surprise. Seeing this Willow had to think quickly she couldn't afford to let it get the upper hand again. So instead of waiting for an answer she quickly murmured a spell under her breath that would remove any glamour. When her spell showed no effect tried another that ended in a loud snap right in front of the First's face. To Willow's surprise and relief the First was forced to change form but it now resembled Buffy, which wasn't much better.

"It takes the forms of people who died and it's non-corporeal." Dawn piped up helpfully from her spot near Buffy. A quick glance showed that she was wearing Willow's choker which made Willow smile briefly.

Turning back to the First who now mimicked Willow's form exactly and was opening its mouth to speak, Willow quickly repeated her spell with an extra added flourish. The First now resembled a scrawny nerdish looking boy that Buffy and Xander vaguely recognized as having gone to high school with them.

"Xander you remember Mickey Kors?"

Xander seemed to still be stuck on the wonder of Willow's return, but managed a response only partially strangled by the lump of emotion in his throat. "Yeah nerdy kid year behind us never made it to puberty."

"Poor Mickey will never reach puberty now he was bitten and turned the summer before senior year when Buffy was gone and I had to stake him. He was a really sad vamp no fangs at all, actually made me feel bad to dust him."

"You will be destroyed you disrespectful hussy!" The First exclaimed. But any effect the words could have had was lost in the cartoonish squeaky voice that cracked as it came out its mouth.

"Yeah, in this house you may take no other form." Willow intoned as the First tried obviously to change forms again and failed. Glaring at Willow (again the effect lost in the form the First was trapped in) it disappeared very obviously pissed off at the witch. "That worked only because I already warded this house outside of here it can be anyone. " Willow spoke out to the room in general before moving to Xander and touching his face gently below his eye patch.

"Oh Xander." She breathed sadly before pulling him into a hug he returned without hesitation. No one else moved or said a word not even Tara who was eager to reunite with her ex girlfriend. After a few moments they pulled apart and Willow was pulled into a hug by Anya before anyone else could get to her.

"You can help him right? I mean you brought Dawn back from the dead surely you can get Xander back his eye." Anya for once might have been trying to be discrete but her lack of practice showed because everyone near enough heard her.

"I can help his body finish healing the damage so he's not in pain anymore, but I can't regrow body parts. I can only help the body heal as it would naturally only faster. Dawn wasn't dead when I got to her or she'd be dead now."

Anya looked very disappointed and ready to argue with Willow about what the witch could or couldn't do when Xander placed his hand on his wife's shoulder silencing her. "I would be grateful for whatever you can do Will."

"If I heal you up now the doctors will have questions at your check up."

"This is Sunnydale they won't ask too many" They both smiled at the long standing joke and Willow agreed to help Xander. Before they could even think about getting to it though Giles and Buffy brought Willow's attention to themselves. Giles having returned earlier that day with not one but three new girls was very surprised and very happy when Buffy told him about Willow. Both girls were like daughters to him and that showed clearly in the three way hug they all shared. He even had a tear trailing down one cheek when they parted though he was quick to cover it up by swiping at his cheek and cleaning his glasses unnecessarily.

After they had exchanged greetings it was finally Tara's turn for a reunion as Dawn had one of sorts two days before in the warehouse. Willow had been afraid of this reunion more than the others, afraid of what she would or wouldn't feel, afraid of Tara's reactions. Their hug lasted far longer than any of the others though Willow did turn her face to avoid the kiss that Tara wanted to give her so it landed on her cheek instead. When their eyes met again Willow tried to convey the things she couldn't say aloud with their unspoken language, but Tara couldn't read her like she used to. They would have to have a very long conversation at some point in the future Willow thought.

Buffy then introduced Willow in general to the potentials who knew of her only through stories and the First. The crowd included Shannon who was released just before Xander was and the other girls who'd been hospitalized and were now under Tara's care as well as the three new girls who were still unsure of their place here. The Scooby gang then left the girls to themselves as they moved to the kitchen where Willow touched glowing hands to Xander's face before finding a seat for herself.

To everyone's surprise Buffy's first question was to Faith rather than Willow as expected. "Faith why didn't you tell me that you were hurt? When Tara told me she thought you were hurt inside I was afraid I'd sent you to your death with all the Turok Han and demons around. I was sure of it when you never came back!"

"Sorry B, I just didn't want you sending me to the hospital. Besides Red found me and she took wicked good care of me." This said with a teasing smirk at Willow. "I could use a bath though we must have sweat clear through the mattress."

"I wouldn't be surprised if we did especially you." The witch responded with a flirty grin. Tara was not pleased by the implications and Buffy was quick to prod Faith into a full explanation before things became unpleasant.

"That's funny I went by your parent's place Will before I looked anywhere else that morning and I saw no sign of people." Buffy said after hearing Faith's account of the last two days( which was basically I went to Will's fell unconscious woke up two days later and came back, the end) to which Willow added detail.

"That's because that house has been empty a long time probably since I started college. I didn't have time to fix it up any or even get the utilities on."

"No need for that Will this is your home and you are welcome here."

"Thanks for that Buffy but it's probably best if I got the house spruced up some you guys are already over capacity and it probably isn't the best idea to have everyone in one place. You know eggs and baskets and all that."

"She has a point." Dawn said quickly "besides there are way too many people here to fit comfortably we are out of floor space and with the new girls that's twenty girls sharing two bathrooms not including anyone in the kitchen. And don't get me started on privacy issues. Will can move back after we kick the First's a... um, butt."

"She's right Buffy." Anya added "Xander and I are going to move in with Will too, because there's safety in numbers and I'd rather not move into an overcrowded house. Faith can go with Willow so that there is a full Slayer in each place and the potentials can still train here."

"I'm cool with that B. If we take some of the girls over with use that will be less stress on you and the bathrooms." This from Faith who was inwardly pleased to be assigned to Willow.

"Fine then but you guys stay here until Will has everything set up and Tara I'm sorry but I'd rather you stay here so we have a dedicated magic user at each house."

That did not sit well with Tara at all, but she couldn't really argue against it as Buffy had a point about the magic. It was only supposed to be until the current crisis was dealt with anyway and it wouldn't keep her from spending time with the other witch. Though Faith was more than likely going to end up on her bad side before the end.

Practical matters dealt with Buffy finally asked the question that was weighing on everyone's mind. Where had Willow been these past six and a half months?


	14. Chapter 12

The Red Witch

Chapter 12

Willow however wasn't ready to answer that yet she wanted instead to hear about the current crisis that they found themselves in. So everyone agreed to fill her in so long as tomorrow she gave an accounting of her whereabouts. With that agreement made the rest of the night was spent with the Scoobies talking and eating then breaking up to get showers and some shut eye, though that presented a problem in itself because sleeping spaces were not readily available in that house.

The real surprise came at Willow's response to Tara offering the red head her place back in their bed. She refused though it seemed to pain her to do it and Tara was hurt by the rejection. Dawn smoothed things over by offering Willow her bed while she slept with Buffy. But Faith's couch had been taken over by an injured Potential and Xander, Anya and Giles still had nowhere to go. In the end a lot of rearrangement was necessary and Willow ended up sharing Buffy's bed while Tara squeezed in with Dawn so Xander and Anya could have her bed. Giles kicked Spike out of his cot in the basement and Faith had to pull up some floor space.

The next morning had everyone in a bad mood. Hot water and bathroom time were in short supply as was food. It was hard for Buffy to maintain order in the light of things with so many extra people floating around. So there was really no time for Willow to make good on her promise that day in fact nearly her whole day was spent setting up her parents house for habitation. She did not want to spend another day and night with at Buffy's with all the people so she had to brush off her hacking skills to get her utility orders bumped up to that day (which took much longer than it really should have but then again she hadn't been near a computer in a long time). Luckily she'd never actually been declared dead as a body was never found so she still had access to her accounts as well as her parent's which gave her the means to get things done. Ten of the most mobile potentials went with Faith and Anya to Willow's in order to get things cleaned and stocked as none of them wanted to stay at Revello Drive again either.

Willow had already warded the property so when night fell again the house was mostly habitable and everyone had room to spread out and breathe which was very much appreciated. Xander and Anya had taken her parent's room while Faith had the other bedroom so there was the pull out couch in her parents office and a couple of sofas for the ten girls. Anya was proud of herself for getting an awesome deal on the purchase of twenty five thermal sleeping bags in the town's sports store. Her haggling skills were second to none or so she told everyone. Luckily the bags were more comfortable than both the pull out and the sofas combined so the girls would be sleeping well in both houses thanks to Willow's parents.

The next day things were more organized as there were three bathrooms in the Rosenberg household and since Anya and Faith went shopping there was enough food to feed everyone so long as the girls kept down the snacking. Faith took the girls for training at Buffy's while Anya, Xander and Willow finished working on the house including bringing some necessary items over from the Harris' apartment so too many things would not need to be brought. Willow's resources weren't unlimited by any means just because they'd gained interest from being untouched so long.

That evening was a scheduled Scooby meeting where the others hoped to get Willow to spill her story. Willow wasn't as eager to tell as they were to hear as many parts of her story were personal to her. Including a few things that she thought Tara had the right to hear about first as they had the potential to hurt her and Willow wanted to beak it to her gently, which meant away from the others. So a full hour and a half before the meeting Willow took Tara to her house which by now was empty and they sat in the living room so they could talk.

"I brought you here because there are things you need to know before I tell everyone my story." Willow began slowly.

"Things like what? What happened to you Willow?" Tara touched Willow's face softly craving an intimacy that they once shared and she was relieved when Willow didn't pull away from her touch as she feared the red head would. In fact Willow actually leaned into her touch for a while and unable to help herself Tara turned the gentle touch into a gentle kiss which Willow allowed for a moment before pulling away. Tara found that she was pleased by the interaction but she wanted more much more and she was afraid that Willow didn't.

"When the demons attacked me in that street I was rescued by someone, a woman."

"Sidonie?" Tara asked began to feel apprehensive about where this was going.

"Yes. How'd you know" Willow's confusion was readily evident.

Tara told Willow about the dream she had of Willow making love with someone named Sidonie about how it ended with Tara waking herself up calling this woman's name. However she left out what came after and the whole mess with the First in her bed as a naked Willow.

"I didn't realize she did that I doubt she did either, she is a demon but she isn't needlessly cruel. She must have felt really bad about my leaving. I've learned that strong emotion can cause unintended effects in magic users like accidental spells."

The sound of a door closing came to them both, Willow had assumed no one else was there, but the door she heard was the door leading outside from the kitchen. She didn't hear any other sounds like footsteps and a quick look around the house showed it was empty now so they returned to the living room.

"So this Sidonie rescued you and you started sleeping with her? Left us alone thinking you were dead for six months while you fooled around with another girl?"

"That's not fair Tara. You broke up with me long before that though I completely understand why you did that and I don't blame you for it. I might have done the same in your place But it wasn't cheating she was there for me when you weren't. And I really couldn't return much sooner than I did it wasn't like I was in L.A or something."

"I'm sorry you're right that wasn't very fair of me. Tell me what happened Willow." Tears built up in Tara's eyes which prompted them to develop in the red head's as well.

"I'm not trying to hurt you Tara. I really don't want to hurt you."

Tara gave Willow a shaky smile and a nod acknowledging her statement. Then she made a gesture that clearly told Willow to finish her story. Willow sighed then did just that.

"By the time Sid took out the demons who'd attacked me I was dead. She took me through to her dimension a place that was kinda like Earth but very different. Here there were no humans only different types of demons. She and our mentor Ysandre revived me using Sid's healing power and took care of me. They taught me different things like proper uses of magic and fighting like with real weapons and without. In your time I was gone six months, where I was over three years passed and Sid and I were close for a long time. he kept me sane and helped me face myself once I realized how much I'd misused my magic. How much I'd hurt you by being so selfish."

Here Willow stopped her head down and eyes closed. Tara in an act of compassion took Willow into her arms and just held her close.

"I'm sorry Tara I'm so sorry for what I've done to you."

"I forgave you Willow long ago. I'm just glad you got some help even if I couldn't give it to you."

Tara sighed and paused considering but asked the question she knew she wouldn't be able to contain. "So then is this it for us, are you going back to Sidonie when this is all over?"

"I can't." Willow's voice muffled against Tara's shoulder. "It was pretty much a one time deal once I left I couldn't go back. And she can't come here without sacrificing too much. So we can't see each other again. That dream you had was our saying goodbye."

Tara shuddered in relief though she managed to keep from saying anything that could potentially come out as callous, jealous or insensitive. "I'm here for you Willow however you want me I can be your friend if that is what you need right now."

Willow raised her head tears drying on her cheeks and moved back to put a little space between herself and Tara. "I think that would be best." Willow said carefully. "I'm not really ready for another relationship right now and I wouldn't want you to be rebound girl."

"I'm not going anywhere Willow we have time." Then before Willow could speak up again she asked another question that showed her interest clearly even if she hadn't meant it to. "What's going on with you and Faith?"

"I saved her life and in doing so put myself in danger, keeping her close saved me. We kinda bonded over that though she spent most of that time unconscious. Besides Faith and I are a lot alike when it comes down to it. I can see her more clearly now than I was able to when we were teenagers. She flirts for fun and I've gotten into the habit of flirting when flirted with. I think she and I could be friends now."

Tara accepted Willow's statement though she did note that Willow never stated that Faith would never be anything other than a friend.

"So Tara how about you, meet anyone?" Willow asked perhaps a little insensitively although she just wanted to turn the conversation from herself.

"I was grieving and I was interested in anyone else. Though I did meet someone I would have liked to be friends with. Being around only the Scooby gang just reminded me over and over you weren't there. She was in all of my classes at college, but she transferred out not too long after we met." *

"Ah, that's too bad. I'm sorry you guys were left thinking I was dead dead."

"There wasn't any way you could have gotten word to us?"

"No, Sid really shouldn't have been able to send you that dream and I'm not quite sure how she did that. There was absolutely no signal in that dimension and the postal service was atrocious."

Tara grinned at Willow's small joke then mentioned that they should be leaving to meet the others. The air was clear between them now and both were on the same page about where they were in terms of their relationship or current lack of one and that was enough for now. Though a not so small part of Tara was longing for more than Willow was able to offer right then.

By the time they'd made it back to Buffy's everyone else was already there waiting for them. Dawn stopped them just before they could go into the kitchen. She unclasped the choker from around her neck and handed it to Willow. The witch took back Sidonie's gift and smiled brightly at the teen while putting the choker back where it belonged on her own neck. No words were exchanged and none were necessary the three of them at the same time walked into the kitchen a beaming Dawn in between the two witches. All was right now in the teen's world (of course she didn't know Willow and Tara weren't together as everyone assumed when they left earlier).

The meeting with the Scoobies went well for the most part. Willow shared less with them than she did with Tara and they may have noticed, but she did share quite a bit. The time difference, her training and the fact that she couldn't give them notice that she wasn't as dead as they thought. The one thing she didn't share was details about Sidonie and their relationship. It was enough she'd told Tara, the others got nothing more than some random person rescued her and got her to Ysandre who saved her. Willow was a very private person when it came to her relationships and she was nowhere near ready to discuss details with people who no longer really knew her, though one day she might if they repaired their friendship. She refused to even let Sidonie's name cross her lips and Tara let that stand. The blonde witch may have understood some Willow's feelings for this other woman even if she didn't have enough of the story to understand completely.

"So that's where you learned to fight like that Red, I must say you got some mad skills."

"Thanks Faith. "

"Yeah that was great Will" Buffy said "I just wish the watchers had proper entries about these Wouj Trezor so we could have been more prepared for them".

"Those weren't Wouj Trezor."

"What do you mean Willow? I looked them up myself vegetarian scavenger demons who are non-violent." Dawn said sounding a bit confused by Willow's assertion.

"I lived near a clan of the demons you were captured by that's how I learned their language. They are Trezor Ble and there aren't really that many differences between the two tribes except the colors of their offspring and their cultural habits. Trezor Ble are born blue and turn red as they get closer to puberty, they do hunt and eat meat and they train their children to fight from the time they can walk without falling. It's very easy to confuse the two if you don't know the difference as Trezor Ble aren't typically found on Earth. Wouj Trezor can be found here though they keep to themselves and they are red all their lives."

"Then why were they here starting trouble?" Buffy asked grumpily.

"Their leader said they lost a treasure. They refer to children as treasures as they value children above all else I think someone took one of their children and they were looking for it. They tried getting home only after they looked for awhile with no luck."

"Why would anyone want to take one of their kids?" Xander asked.

"I have no idea but keep an eye out while patrolling just in case the kid is still out there." Willow said directing the last part of her comment to Buffy and Faith who nodded.

From there the Scoobies just spent the rest of the evening truly enjoying each other's company for probably the first time in a few good months. Xander looked at Buffy without any trace of ill will for once and Buffy was more solicitous towards Faith. Giles, Tara and Willow had a long conversation about magic and the details of Willow's training. The mood was spoiled however when Buffy spoke on a subject that Xander and Anya would rather have forgotten about completely.

"Spike's friend came through with the reports and information about our resident psychopathic priest. I think now that Willow is back it is a good time to go after him and try to get him out of the equation for the First maybe we'll even find what he supposedly has of mine. I don't think we'll have surprise on our side but at least we'll have more fire power." She said looking over at Willow pointedly near the end.

"Hell no, absolutely not! You'll leave us out of this we are not your cannon fodder!" Anya raged, something that none of the others had ever seen her do before. Standing up she continued "you'll not put me or my Xander in danger again!"

Everyone watched in shock as the pissed off ex demon slammed her chair back under the table and stalked off rage forming an almost visible aurora around her. Xander stood up too after a moment hurrying after his wife without so much as a word or even a glance back at the others. Dawn then surprised everyone by standing up too. She turned to Buffy holding out her wrists so that the scars showed pink against her skin.

"I think I'll stay home this time Buffy" she said blandly then left the room.

Buffy looked blankly around the table. Everyone else appeared to be in some sort of shock though Tara managed to shake herself out of it in order to go after the distraught teen and comfort her. Willow just sat still worry on her face, the thought crossed her mind that she wasn't nearly as successful as she'd thought in countering the First's arguments earlier. If it was this bad with the Scoobies she shuddered to think how bad it was among the Potentials.

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* For more on this read The Red Witch Outtakes- The Demon Assassin.

Note chapter 2 part 2 was updated to correct a timeline error I caught no content was actually changed though only time frame. Specifically when Faith arrived in Sunnydale.

Poll closes with next update which should be Tuesday or Wednesday thanks to everyone who voted already and those who plan to vote.


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